AC 208: The Search for Truth
by ItsumademoOtaku
Summary: 3rd and final book of the Threads of Time trilogy!!! In AC 208, with the kids kidnapped, Operation Comet's conspiracy begins to unravel and the gundam's true creators are brought to light. There's some real heartbreaking stuff in here, especially at the
1. Prologue; Fragility

**__**

Hallo all. It's good to be back. Let me tell you it's really hard to keep up with studying for finals when you're addicted to writing fanfics, but I do it anyway. You might want to hear a funny little story that happened to me--

Chibi Mara: *Groan* "Do we have to? God, girl, you tell too many stories as it is!"

Shut up. Fine, I won't.

Well, I promised I'd have this out in June, but it looks like I'm going to be a bit busier this summer than I thought. I'm really gonna try and get this book out before the end of summer vacation (and maybe severely and harshly edit AC 206, 'cause I know it's much crappier than 207 and this one), but if I don't it won't be my fault because my band is taking a huuuuge trip next year and I need almost a thousand bucks, so I'm doing hard labor this summer (that and for my mom).

Chibi Mara: *Sarcastically* "Poor baby . . ." 

Oh well. It's better than starving or having regular blackouts. That would play hell with my one and only love (my computer, duh). Hey, that reminds me of the "Well, duh" award we gave to Brenda . . .

Chibi Mara: "Quick, start the fic before she starts telling horrible band stories!!"

And one time at Band Camp--

*Slap*

****

And one last thing, on a more serious note: This book is dedicated to all my senior friends who graduated last week. Eric, Mark, Mitchell, Kyle, Chris, Mandy, Carissa, Amy, Elizabeth, Jessica and all the rest: I love you all and don't ever think you can't reach past what you're capable of. Guys, because you graduated, you proved to the world that you're intelligent, capable and responsible human beings.

*Boy, you sure fooled everybody, didn't you?* 

***************************************************************

ItsumademoOtaku proudly presents the climactic conclusion:

**Book 3 of the 3-part series_ The Threads of Time:_**

** The Search for Truth (Part I) **

Prologue: "Fragility"

The stars twinkled pitilessly in their niches of space, greedily drawing in their planets and comets and every bit they could possibly reach. A medium-sized yellow one grasped desperately at the refugees fleeing madly away, defying the homeland that had so carelessly given them life. Deep within the bowls of the ship, she heard the thrum of the powerful engines as they burned through the cold night, tense and hurried. Near them, beyond the sterile metal confines of the prison that held three small children, men with a hurried and fearful step spoke in quiet whispers as in the presence of someone already dead, if not in body than in spirit. It was familiar now, though never a pleasant foreboding as they colony-hopped. With the deep animal instinct borne of fear, she cuddled close to the two infants, all together on the small green cot, under the thin, ragged blanket. She convinced herself that she was protecting them out of her own motivation, but a faint memory rested just beyond her reach that signaled that someone else might have asked it of her.

From day to day for an indeterminate length of time, this had been the norm. Once a day she was given colorless food that tasted of nothing, so much as that she no longer felt the desire to eat. She only did so because, despite everything, the will to live seized every fiber of her being with such strength that she could barely restrain herself from trying to break. The babies were part of that which held her back behind her wall.

No matter what, she would show no one how she suffered, even if she was on the brink of death. She vowed one day to exact revenge, and knew the strength of her convictions would hold to help her survive. She no longer felt pain when they had the needles. The chemicals no longer made her dizzy, sick and exhausted. Her head had grown resistant to the itchiness of the short, stiff bristles of dark brown hair. White was the only color. Lights were merely a contrast to darkness. Blackness was merely a relief from the light. She lived in a waking sleep, too worn to keep aware and too filled with fear to surrender to that peaceful, blissful danger.

Fireflies flickered behind her eyes, where she couldn't see. Odd, random images and voices and words and ideas sought a connection she was unable to supply, as if all her receptors and sensible ends had been burned and charred beyond recognition. Only the new things were there, the things _they _thought fit to drill into her skull. They called her a number, but she had once been called something else. All she could do was make assumptions about who she once had been, because there must have surely have been a before.

Deep down, she waged war. She pretended not to understand their words as they spoke them, although she did. She taught her charges, the ones they didn't bother with because of their lack of adequate age, the words that no one knew. They were both babbling "nonsense" now, though the dark-haired one had to be watched lest he accidentally express his comprehension of the other language, because he had obviously been raised with it. Her heart ached to see the risk he posed to her plan.

She could almost touch space sometimes. They wickedly restrained her trainers, controlling them if she tried to run. She'd been beaten the first time she'd tried— and worse— but the stubborn ember remained. She had a mission, she knew, that they were training her for. She had a different mission, and that was to go against everything they wanted from her.

The thought never occurred, since she had nothing to base such and assumption on, that someone might want with all his heart to find her.

**~~@[-*,-]@~~**

Snow fell softly, soundlessly on the European landscape. The world gleamed white in the new year of AC 208, a metaphor to how burdens— as the seasons— change, yet don't vary a whole lot on a larger scale. A panorama of grassy fields and lakes seemed so peaceful and unknowing, uncaring. _If only I could be part of nature_, he thought. _Then, I wouldn't have to bear all this trouble._

Quatre had gotten special leave upon the sullen news of the kidnapping. Beliv just didn't want to give up on Heero's family, and had found the little warrior Vincent in the bargain. The Crime scene specialists had confirmed exactly what they had all suspected all along; Dorothy had been there personally.

The truth, on his return, had been hard to take, although not entirely unexpected. Anja was pretty, intelligent and friendly, but it still hurt to see that Trowa hadn't even sent word that he'd met someone. Heero, who was openly the most devastated, wouldn't speak to anyone but Relena, and only when the two were alone. Duo had been frantic, and both he and Heero had spent their every waking moment of the past few weeks on the hunt for their missing children. Both the women had turned to the others for comfort, which Quatre had been all too willing to provide. It was hard to believe they were gone.

Wufei had left before Quatre had arrived, promising to take the news to Mariemaia with all urgency. Une had granted him special diplomatic leave so that there would be allowed no contact between him and Earth whatsoever. Phailin had been uneasy about it, but soon settled on the terms she'd been dealt. Her final message to the others had come the week before Quatre had gotten to Earth. She had moved into the old base at Samut Sakhon within ten minutes' walking distance of her village. She had taken pains to make sure the message had been encoded. She was obviously worried enough about the bounty on her head to be careful.

It was late in the night at the Sanc Kingdom. Outside the real glass windows, crickets chirped in ignorance of the tensions mounting. He'd rarely seen Noin in the time he'd been there— she had apparently been trying to drop out of sight. Milliardo had been in a mad dash, trying to scare up information. It was working, since nobody seemed to know exactly what to make out of the Peacecraft newly returned from the dead. Milliardo wasn't eager to relish the details, either.

Just beneath the curtain of storm clouds, the castle huddled as if severely intimidated. Milliardo, however, had made sure not to let that happen. He'd stirred up old soldiers and members of the Treize faction (those that were still alive). The Sanc Kingdom had an army— but one that didn't need to be trained. That had been the strategy that should have been applied in the first place. Quatre had the feeling the Sanc Kingdom wasn't going to fall this time.

In the rosy light of the dawn, Quatre saw Milliardo's broad figure knelt at his father's grave, next to a beautiful bouquet of roses. For the first time since he'd known the man, it looked as though he was lost. How, in a time when everything seemed to be going so well, could he be disoriented now?

**~~@[~*,~]@~~**

Phailin crept into the deserted village on silent, soft-shoed feet, disguised in browns and greens so as not to be distinguished on the sheltered jungle trail. She swept away the last vines and wiped her hand across a sweaty brow. It was especially steamy today, and especially silent. Phailin had observed the activities around the village come to an almost standstill, and today the roads were deserted entirely.

No one knew she was in the area— as an extra precaution against attacks— but that also meant that she was painfully uninformed and alone if something did happen. Her heart beat in her throat at the thought that a bounty hunter might have decided her family was lying about their knowledge of where she was. Perhaps they had constructed this elaborate ploy just to flush her out.

To her left, a door slammed suddenly and a boy tripped on his high steps, crying out in pain when he landed on his arm. Phailin recognized his pain-distorted face and ran to help him up. "Chai-son? Where is everyone?"

Her brother scowled at the nickname that he hated, but looked at her with wide eyes. "Phailin, where did you come from?"

She shook her head. "Never mind that. What's happened here? Where is everybody?"

Jason was a good four inches taller than when she'd last seen him. His face was sharper, longer, more masculine. It was a shock to see him so grown up, a reminder of just how much time had really passed from her wedding-day.

"You didn't get mother's message?" he asked, incredulous. "Chatalerm's gotten himself into a bit of trouble again. Well, actually, it's not _his_ trouble this time, it's his betrothed . . ."

"What? Slow down!" she urged, quickening her pace. "Who are you talking about?"

"Chatalerm's been off-planet, and he brought back a foreigner. She looks like a Chang, and refuses to tell us where she's from. Yesterday, two of the village elders were found murdered in their beds . . ."

Phailin waited to hear no more. She sprinted ahead, having a bad (and strangely familiar) feeling about this.

True to Jason's word, every single villager was gathered in the center of the community, yelling insults and lashing out in anger. A woman, bruised and injured, was tied against one of the wooden posts that ringed the bonfire area. She _was_ a Chang, Phailin could immediately tell by her face, but she was obviously a frightened one. Remembering Wufei's stories of female oppression among his clan, she seemed very docile. Large doe-eyes streaming with tears searched the crowd desperately for someone— Chatalerm, she would guess. Phailin scoured the crowd for him but didn't see the man, wondering briefly if he'd chickened out and ran for the sanctuary of the jungle.

Knowing how her village was prone to anger toward the Chang clan, she fought her way forward to the poor girl, who looked on the verge of fainting. She threw herself bodily between the mob and the post, shielding the little thing from the hurled objects. A rotten fruit glanced across her head and smashed into the post before people began to realize who she was. Shouts of confusion began to replace those of anger.

"I will not move from this spot, until I'm either cut down or given an explanation!" she shouted, feeling her throat rattle unpleasantly at the uncomfortable volume. Although silence began to establish itself, no one offered the story.

Keeping one eye on the others, Phailin turned to the poor girl, who looked all the more frightened. Phailin gave her a reassuring smile and wiped a bit of dirt from her cheek. "Tell me what you know," she whispered, in the Chang language so that others could not hear what was being said.

Her face flooded with relief. "You're the first person here who I can understand! Chatalerm told me his village had a disturbance with a Chang years ago, but I never imagined . . ."

"My father was murdered by one," Phailin said, careful not to let the bitterness seep into her voice. It wasn't the whole clan's fault, after all. "And many of our ancestors fled the clan hundreds of years ago to escape oppression. Do you know what happened last night?"

She shook her head again, eyes brimming with tears. "They just broke into our home and took me, yelling, angry. I don't understand what I've done. Chatalerm told me they had treated another Chang with great hospitality, but . . ."

She hiccuped and Phailin felt her heart crumble. She was convinced this tiny little thing couldn't have killed. She was too upset, and it wasn't in any way an act as far as she could tell.

"Perhaps you'll understand why you're being blamed now: two of the village elders were found killed this morning." She grimaced. "I have a bad feeling, but I can't fathom how you could have done it."

Her reaction of horror further enforced Phailin's suspicion of innocence. "Who— who would do something like that?"

"I don't think it was a person from this village. I have my suspicions, but you need to know nothing of that. Where is Chatalerm?"

Her lungs filled with the vocation of his name, and she peered around her protector and nodded in his direction. Phailin followed her gaze and saw him, a cross of relief and terror on his handsome features. She gave him a microscopic nod and noted his location, giving him a signal to stay where he was. Bringing him into this would only complicate matters.

"Where is my grandfather?" she called. There was a silence, and the expressions of the crowd further deepened. _Oh no._

"Phailin . . . he's dead," one of those near whispered, almost beyond hearing. Phailin wanted to sink to her knees, but knew it would only reinforce their anger and devastation. The dear old man had been her best confidant her whole life. He couldn't be _gone_. For a split second she wanted to turn her anger on the Chang girl. More of her family taken from them by those abominations—

"No," she told herself, clenching her teeth against the pain. _There's no proof, there's no proof_. "Where is the new head elder?" she called, hearing her own voice crack despite her best efforts to bury her emotions. Now was not the time to be upset, not _now_.

An old man named Kanm fought his way though the crowd. He had always been fragile and prone to great surges of emotion.

"I want to hear everything," she told him after noting the disdainful look on his wrinkled features, clenching her fists against her sides. "Kanm, dammit, the blood of the ancient kings of Siam flows in my veins! Don't brush me off like I don't know how to run my own damn village!"

He shook his head. "I truly don't remember, Phailin. You would have to read the reports."

"Bring them here," she commanded with the voice she had used so rarely and never with Wufei, the voice of a true Siamese princess who had been village-raised and palace-sponsored. Father's brother, the king, would have something to say of hasty judgements, had he been near. No one argued, knowing full well that she might run to her uncle.

She sat cross-legged (Wufei's sword resting in her lap, out of it's sheath) and read through them. The other man had been her other favorite elder, and she had a sneaking suspicion it was more than coincidence. She held her breath when finally braving the photos. It was like something out of the legend of Jack the Ripper. Behind her, the Chang girl made choking sounds and looked away from the mutilated bodies of the two old men. Phailin's breath caught in her throat, hiding them when Jason tried to look. The boy _certainly_ didn't need to see that. Something caught her eye, and she leaned closer to scrutinize the image more closely. There was a cloth, bloodstained, with writing on it. She whispered the description to her brother and had him run to find it.

"How horrible," the girl sobbed, tangled, matted hair falling in front of her face. "Your leaders cut to pieces like cattle."

"My grandfather . . ." Phailin replied softly. "The one man I trusted here, and he's dead. So horribly . . . Even my father died quite painlessly. This was a deliberate move toward me."

A copy of the text was sent from the coroner. The girl gasped as she recognized the script as her clan's writing. "That . . . no wonder they're suspicious!"

"_For those who say there is honor in losing, let her see how long she stays hidden in midst of such loss. May your ancestors suffer the curse of a thousand betrayals,_" Phailin read. "This _was_ aimed at me." The first . . . was something she'd said. The second was a phrase she had never heard outside of Shenmu Training Grounds.

She called Kanm to her. "This girl is not at fault. I know who they are, and what they want. They probably wanted you to blame her, and knew I would see through this ploy at once."

"How do you know?" Kanm looked doubtful.

Phailin, not in the mood to dance political dances, sprang to her feet. "The note found buried in my grandfather's body contained a quote that I am familiar with, and one this girl would not be. My life is in danger now, and that is as much as I can tell you, but I know this girl is not guilty. I will meet with the village counsel about this, but I demand that this girl, Chang or not, be released. There is no way she could have killed those two men. Even I am not willing to believe my grandfather died at her hands!"

The mob murmured softly, and doubt of the first assumption began to spread. "Put her in a guarded house," Kanm ruled finally. "Chatalerm, watch over her. We will inquire."

Phailin quickly untied the poor thing and handed her over to Chatalerm, who rushed forward to take her into his arms. He gave Phailin a grateful look. "How . . ."

"Come to the meeting," she told him quietly. "You will understand then."

Before she could escape, her mother affronted her. The short, round woman had lived a harsh life in the village, the daughter of the village head and widow of a prince and then wife to an abusive Englishman. Having her daughter not tell her where she'd been was just about the limit. "So close to us but you won't visit," she complained in broken Basic. "Sometime I think you're more trouble than a girl is worth."

"'Sometimes,'" Phailin corrected patiently. "And I have my reasons, mother. My life is in danger, and if news came that I was staying at the village . . . you know I don't want to put you all in danger."

"Ah!" She slapped Phailin's arm in triumph. "I knew that Chang was trouble!"

"It has nothing to do with Wufei," she bit back. "It was my own fault I'm wanted as a dead woman. It's not even really the Changs this time." And Wufei . . . this was going to be hard without him. "That note was in amateur hand. They wanted you to suspect the girl, and I know it wasn't her!"

Her mother's mouth flapped like a fish's before she stormed off, obviously frustrated. It was better than outright rejection, Phailin noted depressingly. She headed off to find the shrine in the forest. She had to pray for her grandfather, and the other, and for Wufei. And, she thought grimly, for herself.

**~~@[~*,~]@~~**

As far as he could tell, Heero hadn't slept for weeks, days at best. Every time Duo saw him, he was organizing something. Most of the time, he was sitting at his computer, searching files— whether he was doing so legally or not was at question sometimes. He assumed Heero knew better than to run blindly into outer space (where Dorothy's diplomatic shuttle had launched), but the Japanese man surprised him once again.

"I'm coming," he heard Relena insist from the open doorway. I don't have anything to lose here. I'm not running the Sanc Kingdom any more. I may be needed."

"Absolutely not," Heero said stubbornly. Duo noted for the first time how strained he sounded (not to mention how he looked!). No matter how strange it might have sounded years ago, Heero was suited for fatherhood. "What if something comes up that Milliardo doesn't know how to handle? Where would we be then?"

"What if something comes up that _you_ can't handle alone? I don't want to lose you, too!"

"I trust you're going on the hunt?" Duo interrupted, not wanting to hear them bickering any longer. If Heero and Relena broke up . . . he'd consider that a bad sign. "She's right, you know, Mr. Perfect Soldier. Milliardo's a big boy. He and Noin will be fine on their own. But regardless, I'm in."

"What the hell are you babbling about, Maxwell?" Heero rubbed furiously at his ringed eyes. "This is a solo operation."

"Not anymore," he countered. "Relena's right. You need _someone_ to back you up, because whenever you're alone you get yourself in trouble. I think you, me, Sophie and Relena should all go. Us four should be able to think up some way to lead Beliv in the wrong direction— and be more visible. Making this covert would be pointless. Beliv knows you'll be on his trail and trying to hide it will only make you more prominent. The whole world knows our children are missing; It would only make us look ridiculous to try and hide the search."

Relena shot her husband a triumphant glance, and Heero groaned knowing he was backed into a corner with no chance of going down fighting. A good dad knows when to surrender. "All right— but we have to be careful. This must be meticulously planned. If anything goes wrong, our lives will be on the line."

"The first step will be to organize public appearances, urging help and support. If money's coming in from anonymous sources we may be able to use that to some of our own secrecy." Relena thoughtfully jotted something down on a notepad from her dresser.

Duo was surprised at the seemingly casual observation. He hadn't thought Relena to have a sly bone in her entire body. He held up both hands. "Hey, whoa! Before we do anything I'd better go get Soph."

Heero stopped him. "Meeting now will not earn us much. Let's meet tomorrow to see where our aim should be. After that we can plan once we're away and moving. Secrecy will be easier that way."

"Good point," Duo admitted. "Well, I've still got to go tell Soph or she'll kill me when she finds out tomorrow. I'll see you two in the morning." He ran off, carefully closing the door behind him.

Relena smiled at the not-so-concealed gesture. She set the notepad down softly and approached her husband, reaching out to massage his shoulders. That's where he tended to carry all his stress, and it only gave him back problems. She had the feeling he'd need to be fit for this mission.

Heero closed his eyes appreciatively and sat down on the edge of the bed to give her a better angle so her arms wouldn't get sore. "I forget just how tense I am sometimes."

"That's what your doctor said years ago. Haven't you ever listened to him?" She tried to sound lighthearted. The last thing Heero needed was criticism of his actions. He cared a lot more about his image than he was willing to admit, especially around her.

It was one of the sweetest gestures Relena had ever seen him give her. He tried so hard not to let himself slide into a mentality that she disliked. He worked so hard at it sometimes that he overworked, and she had to remind him to go ahead and let something loose. It was times like this when the tight bond they shared really showed, like a steel wire in the middle of a soft plastic cord.

"I hope they're okay," he said quietly, finally releasing the nervousness he'd pent up inside himself for these long three weeks. "Considering who the man is . . . who knows how they are."

"They're alive," she said firmly. "I can feel it. Akiko's still burning bright out there somewhere, and she wants to come home. I can't wait for the day when we can hold them both in our arms again. It seems like so long ago."

Heero let his head sag forward as she worked her way up to his neck. She felt the cords there tighten and loosen as he clenched his jaw. "I remember carrying them both up to bed that night. I checked the window latch, and I tucked them both in and Akiko woke up long enough for me to tell her I loved her . . ."

His voice trailed off and Relena stayed silent, not wanting to disturb the recollection. They both meant so much to him, and to her. It was hard to believe sometimes that they were both half him and half her, products of a love that almost hadn't been. It was hard to imagine what it had been like if Heero hadn't come back to get his coat, or if Howie had been too shy to point out the fact that he loved her as much as she had been willing to admit to him the night before. _Things could have gone so differently, but we're here, and we have to make the most of it._

Heero turned to her, putting a warm hand on top of hers gently. "We'll get them back. They're too important to not rescue," he reassured her, his eyes which had once been empty and grieving were flooded with determination, fueled by affection and longing and fear.

"I know, I just want them back _now,_" she said quietly. She had all faith that they would see them both again, and soon. Much of that rested on Heero's newly relaxed shoulders.

**~~@[~*,~]@~~**

Marie dozed in the arms of the gundam, and Cam watched from an inconspicuous spot nearby. Christmas had been the turning point, but he wouldn't have exchanged anything for those brief hours of intimacy. Since then, though, Mariemaia had been much more complacent, more temperamental and much less burdened, and no one was quite sure why— except him.

Fortuna's deep hazel eyes, her true eyes, flickered toward him again briefly before slowly, patiently scanning the rest of the room. No longer feeling any need to hold deathly still, her feathers moved slowly over one another. How was it possible, Cam wondered, for a machine to be animated when it really wasn't truly alive?

The secret was so hard to keep, but he'd sworn his life to it and he wasn't about to give up that vow. He remembered three weeks previous when he'd stumbled into it . . .

The urgent knocks on his cabin door brought him out of a deep, restful sleep, and he had still been asleep enough not to notice Marie's absence. Ben had been there, breathless. "I can't find Mariemaia!" he said wildly. "We need her on the bridge. Someone said they saw her leave with you last night—"

Cam had made a face; It hadn't been his intention to be noticed. That wasn't politically correct and would probably have embarrassed the girl. "Hold on," he had said, but when he went to check he had found her missing.

They'd split up to search the ship, and Cam had an idea to go search the bay where Fortuna was being held. He had known Marie had the habit of running to the gundams to help with her conflicts. He'd gotten there, and something huge and black shot out of the sky and wedged him on the corner of the catwalk, surrounded by one of Fortuna's wings. Distantly, he'd heard a drowsy female voice ask what was going on. She shouted at the gundam for almost killing him and demanded to be put down. Reluctantly, it had seemed, the wing withdrew and the gundam had lowered her hands to the catwalk, where Marie leapt like a cat down to the metal mesh. Cam, unsure exactly what to make of the suddenly moving mobile suit, was unable to accost her for hiding when her crew needed her.

That was when he had been entrusted to the Secret.

Suddenly, Marie stirred as if being spoken to. She rubbed her eyes and looked in Cam's direction with a puzzled expression— which then turned to one of exasperation. "If you want to come see me you don't have to sit there staring like a predator," she called in good humor. "It makes a girl paranoid."

Cam felt himself blush. He hadn't meant to be noticed. Taking the hint, he climbed down from his somewhat precarious spot and approached her, shyly. They hadn't spoken much since Fortuna had become such a major attraction for her, but it appeared as though she wasn't necessarily disinterested. Sudden ridiculous fantasies swirled in his brain for a moment before he was able to subdue them. It was unrealistic to dream things like that, but it was so hard not to want those things. "Am I not allowed to look at you?" he asked, albeit mumbling somewhat.

She sighed again and rolled her eyes. "You're as shy as my uncle when it comes to women, aren't you?"

"How shy is your uncle?" he jested back.

"Like a hen in a fox den," she said, sounding honest and somewhat resigned. Seeing as how he was standing expectantly at the base of Fortuna's giant hands, she motioned for him to climb up.

Cam placed his hands and feet tentatively on the somewhat soft, padded material (although he'd assume it to be metal). Marie's left palm twitched as if from a sudden itch, but she invited him onto her perch just beside the gundam's wrist. After an uneasy moment of silence, she said quietly, "I don't think I thanked you . . . for, well, you know why. It meant more that I think I even know."

"I went with my intuition," he admitted. "You'd been projecting that you were taking care of yourself, but it felt like a false wall."

"And you were absolutely right," she said, "and I'm glad you had the sense to realize that I've never been a social person."

Cam slipped his arm around her shoulders slyly. "Well, there's always room to change—"

She elbowed him lightly in the ribs and laughed. Cam felt a grin summoned to his own face when he caught sight of those incredible green eyes twinkling with merriment. That reaction in itself was what made his efforts worth it. He brushed her forehead lightly and held her sharp, slightly angular face toward his, unable to tear his gaze away.

A description as "a mere attraction shared not long ago with a deeper, more profound event" was a great understatement of what the two of them were feeling, though neither would admit it. What seemed to be temporary, flamed infatuation between them was actually a deep understanding that only develops at a severe emotional cost. Strong bonds that had connected by Marie's identity crisis tugged them close, and they both willingly fell into what was destined to be a long, meaningful embrace—

Suddenly, the quite pulse and all movement of Fortuna ceased. Before either of them could break away, a visitor interrupted them. "You know, I don't think on top of a gundam is the best place for a make-out session if you two are intent on keeping that private at all. Considering the confines of this fleet, privacy's difficult already, but you're just vying for attention. It's a good think I didn't send a messenger."

Cam recognized the voice as the one that belonged to the adolescent Dennis Ender, a temp crewmember of a delicate sixteen years. Dennis was wearing little more than an undershirt and jeans, and the fairly fresh pink scars of his severely damaged body and spirit showed vividly on his deeply ebony skin.

He grinned and threw himself back onto Mariemaia, who kissed him with a kind of sarcastic fever.

Dennis shook his head, but he was obviously happy that his close friend Marie was getting some badly needed attention. "Well, when you care— because I know you will eventually— we've got an incoming pilot who wants in, but we've got a little bit of an issue with him."

Marie pushed away from Cam and brushed a stray curl out of her eyes. "What? Why?"

Dennis shrugged, knowing he'd gotten her attention. "Well, I suspect he's come on a mercy mission on behalf of your uncle to make sure you're all right. I don't think it's harmful, but I didn't know if you'd appreciate being babied."

Her brow furrowed in mystery. "Who is it?"

Dennis flashed a bit of his bright white grin before answering. "Our good friend Wufei Chang."

"Chang Wufei; last name first," she corrected automatically, but then she jumped. "_Wufei?_ What's _he_ doing here?"

"Why don't you ask him? He's waiting just outside our security parameter."

****************************************************

_Three nights ago I fell asleep at my word processor and woke up to three hundred pages of "dddddddddddddddddddddddd". It was kind of funny until I had to delete it from my fic. That took _forever_. Yeah, I know I'm a nerd, but I beat bullies up, so watch it._

Chibi Mara: "HELP ME!!"

*Insane laughter* Too bad we share a soul Mara. Anyway, my parents were trying to buy me this car that I didn't want and on Senior Graduation Night some kid fell asleep at the wheel and ran smack into the side of it. I'd finally gotten used to the idea of owning that particular car.

Yes, the gods of irony strike again.

And one time at band camp--

Chibi Mara: "NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!"

She gets so disgusted with that it's funny.

Anywayz, I might or might not get the second chapter out in the next couple of days. Wish me lots o' luck on my finals because I'm going to need all of it! Stay posted for the next chapter of **AC 208: The Search for Truth (Part II): **"Dawn."


	2. Dawn

__

Okay, okay, fine. It's out, and so's school *Jumps around the room wildly until she realized she's got to finish the introduction* YAY!! I'm putting a lot of work into this fic, so you better darn well appreciate it! I just not realized that unless I want this book to go on ^forever^ I've got to plan out where I want the chapters to go, which is not easy, let me tell you! I'm never going to finish my independent novel at this rate. I also spent like thirty bucks on Learn Japanese stuff at the bookstore, so I've got to get to that_ sometime this summer. *Sigh* Oh well . . . _

**AC 208: The Search for Truth (Part II) **

"Dawn"

Dawn over the jungles of Thailand was an amazing sight when a few shy clouds hung in the sky, foreshadows of the coming rains that would bring relief to the village farmers, and the plants and animals shivered either toward or away from the red and gold light. Dawn found a lone woman making her way nimbly through the overgrowth, shunning the machete at her belt for the life of the forest. In her dark clothing, summer-humidity thin and just as plainly native to the land, Phailin fought to the monastery and temple secluded within the deepest part of the forest.

The town meeting would not be until later, and she was making good time and would probably be there in time to take a bath beforehand.

She had been so angry to discover the shrine near her village vandalized. There should have been some awareness to who had been in the vicinity, but _everyone_ had claimed no knowledge of the incident. The gold Buddha had been partially melted and chipped; the jade Budistafahs smashed; the marble signs shattered and covered with graffiti; the pond polluted; the beautiful cherry wood shrine burned to ashes . . . her hands shook at the macabre memories. It wasn't recent, and it implied to her that the villagers had not been the guardians they had promised her to be in her absence. Guilt wreaked havoc with her conscience. She should _not _have been gone so long.

The grounds of the monastery and temple were so quiet and abandoned, but well-kept by the monks. No one had journeyed this far to worship— which told her a lot about those convictions in these times. She left her sandals by the entrance gate (no one would steal them) and took out her hair, letting it fall its full length to her waist. It shimmered gently in the post-dawn sun, which cast a golden light across the temple murals and statues. If she was going to appeal to her God, it was only right to be in a natural state. She knelt at the great idol and touched her forehead to the cool stones. It felt so good to have the heat taken from her skull, as though he almost knew she was suffering badly.

_What is there, if I cannot find a peace through this maelstrom of confusion?_ She asked. _That poor Chang girl . . . she has been beaten badly enough to be bedridden only because of her name. If Chatalerm had been a tricky storyteller, as I was with my husband, they would have given no trouble of wrongful accusations. My village has lost the faith, O Great One, and I can't restore it. I'm not fit to be guardian of your temple. It's been decimated._ Tears pattered against the stones beneath her. It was selfish to say she was trying hard, but she was! _My security and family is shattered, scattered to the winds. I want to live without these burdens. Have me suffer with crusade at least, not of futility!_

But then, of course he knew. She was one of his most devoted, and had no doubt that he was always watching. Wufei had always said it had been strange to see her so faithful to a god when she was so hopelessly critical of everything else. In all these years and through all this suffering, his words about life— that it _is_ suffering— had always spoken to her as truly, unarguably wise. In all his wisdom, he sent her relief from her guilt.

Two monks, talking quietly, approached down the garden path. The taller one picked up on her sobs and turned, curious. Unaware, Phailin sat up and bowed her head, wiping at her eyes dully, thinking that he hadn't heard her cry. The spoken word of her name caused her to jump. The sight of the monk filled her with relief and comfort, much pleasant after the hopelessness she'd just resigned herself to.

"Well, my gem, you're a sight for sore eyes." In times long gone, monks had maintained a code of silence among those who weren't themselves devoted to Buddha as a fellow, but the code had changed drastically, and Chatchom had always been particularly sympathetic and helpful. The king himself often came for advice from Chatchom, seeing as how he was also the youngest brother of their family. "What road has made you weary?"

"Many, many things, Holy One," she answered quietly, feeling the tears start to dry. She'd forgotten he was living at this monastery these days. "I've been away much too long."

The monk made a respectful bow to the Buddha. "I am sorry to take this young lady from your hands, lord, but there is much news to be heard! Proper worship comes in time. You have bestowed great license to me about that, many thanks indeed." He stood and offered a hand. "Come, my niece. So little news has passed from the mouths of the few travelers we get here."

She took the hand and walked beside him to a bench near the pools. As a child, she'd felt dwarfed by him, and the proportions seemed to have changed none. Chatchom was still as skinny as a twig (as anyone would be on a diet of rice and water) but he was much taller than lanky Trowa. It was a bit of an anomaly, considering that both his older brothers were/had been no taller than Phailin was currently. He was by no means stunning, but a very openly handsome, intelligent, friendly man. She'd always wondered what his mother had looked like, since she'd died in childbirth. "My, you're hair has gotten long since I last saw," he muttered, stroking some of it with a delicate hand.

She smiled a little. "Last time you saw it, it was a millimeter long!"

Chatchom chuckled mischievously. "I can't believe we were actually able to fool the 'Dalai Lama—'" a nickname for the very bossy monk in charge of that temple— "that you were a boy! The look on his face I'll never forget!"

She laughed, catching his optimistic mood. "You almost got kicked out for that. And that trick about body-binding has come in handy more than once, I'll tell you."

His eyebrows arched. "Ah, yes, how goes the Hunt? Your grandfather was very proud when he'd heard your conviction, before he died."

The comment about her grandfather dead stung like ice in the heart, even though Chatchom was talking about _his_ father, but she managed to stick to the subject. "The Hunt's been over for a few years. It seemed to be becoming more and more tiring, and I had other commitments . . ."

She had intended to catch him with the cliffhanger sentence, and it quickly caught. Chatchom was always very "with it" for a monk, and he enjoyed talking to teens and young adults about something that of which he was deprived. It was a twist on the rules that had angered his fellow Oranges but not the God. You couldn't find a kinder-hearted man than Chatchom. "What might those "commitments" have been, story-spinner?"

She grinned. "When I was Chang hunting, I met a rather handsome Chinese man. He was infatuated with me because I looked and acted like a woman he had loved very much before she'd died, and I saw in him a greater respect for me than he was willing to admit. That's the short version, but between falling in love and getting jobs in Bangkok, the story would be epic!"

Chatchom nodded and grinned. "I will have to meet a man so worthy of your affections!"

Her face quickly fell. "That won't be possible soon," she said quietly. "I don't know when my husband's coming home."

His sympathy comforted her greatly. "Has he gone to the war in space?"

"As a favor for a close friend. I'm not worried for his life, but . . ."

Chatchom listened with no sign of boredom or indifference while she unburdened all of the things she'd bee worried about. He'd objected strongly when she'd claimed to not being worthy to care for the shrine, seeing as how its care had been greatly neglected. She also admitted her fear about the bandits and bounty hunters, grieving for her grandfather against his warm shoulder. And finally, when she was all cried out, he spoke words of encouragement and advice softly into her ear as lovingly as her father would have. "Even tough women must sleep," he told her. "But too many more spirits side for you than against. You will get through, Phailin. I don't see how you couldn't."

The visit over, it was time for him to finish his abandoned worship rounds, and she hers.

She didn't return to Buddha. He had already done more for her than she was willing to ask of him. She prayed to the various undergods and goddesses for luck, fortune, wisdom, sight, courage and fertility. She prayed on behalf of the Chang girl and Chatalerm. She prayed that Wufei would be safe and make a quick return home. She prayed that her grandfather's sprit made it safely back into the world and attained reincarnation. She prayed for Chatchom, that he would continue to help and guard her in this time of fragility. She prayed life would sustain and triumph, even though she wanted to share it with her husband now. The sun was high in the sky when she finally found the strength to carry her own weight again.

**~~@[~*,~]@~~**

"Since it's obvious you already know, yes, Trowa asked me to come here and help you." Wufei took a small bow in Mariemaia's direction. "Since it was inevitable that I join this war, I figured I might as well be with the rest of the loners than paired with one side or another. I have cut my ties to Earth entirely. Both they and Beliv recognize me as an outsider."

"What about your wife? I've known you long enough, Wufei, to know you would rather die than leave her behind." Marie sat at the other end of the interrogation table, Ben at one shoulder and Dennis at the other.

"Oh, make no mistake of it. I intend to return to Phailin as soon as this wretched affair is over. For now, however, I have terminated all connections to Earth. No messages will be sent, even to your uncle or my wife. I intend to hide nothing from you."

"Marie, I don't know . . ." Dennis said.

"Something smells funny," Ben agreed. "He still hasn't given us a reason."

Marie moved to disagree, but realized he had a point. "Tell us, Wufei, why you decided to leave everything behind."

Wufei's eyes unfocused briefly, as if facing some internal conflict. "Earth has become a madhouse," he said finally. "The army is in ruins, the people's faith has been torn time and time again, and without a faction leader like Treize Khushrenada we don't have a strong man or woman to guide us to victory. Une tries her best, but she was never half as strong as he. The colonies were right in judging that we cannot unite properly. Milliardo's Sac Kingdom has tried so very hard, but it is still so controversial and trails behind it many defeats and disappointments. My wife is in a secluded enough place so she won't be affected, but if we had both remained in Bangkok I'd still be fearing for our lives much more."

Marie felt herself shiver. Wufei's words had confirmed the numerous and practically identical testimony of the new people coming from Earth

"How's my uncle?" she asked quietly.

Wufei's face brightened a bit. "Trowa's been better these days. He wanted to send you a message that he wants you to be careful but by no means does he want you to stop what you're doing. You know how he's always had that lion-heart of his; He thinks your courage will unite people. He told me he had the feeling you'd be back, and I think he's right. He's found a ladyfriend to distract him now, so I don't see grief whenever your name is mentioned any more."

So Quatre had been cast off? That was too bad, since the gentile man had always been some help in suppressing her pain. Oh well, it wasn't like she'd never see him again.

"I hate to say it, gentlemen," she told Dennis and Ben, "but I'm inclined to trust to him. See that he gets settled aboard ship. Then— and only then, Ben— we will discuss why I have come to this decision."

Ben's fist clenched under the table, but he let it go. Mariemaia was still the one in charge, and she knew Wufei better than anyone else on board.

Dennis, who was less inclined to dislike Wufei, found a spare quarter and agreed to help move things. As he had minimal knowledge about machinery and only served as the strategist, and therefore felt the need to assist with things requiring a slim adolescent body and young strong back, such as carrying luggage.

Marie sought counsel from Fortuna.

_::I see no reason to be worried. From what you have implied, this Chang Wu Fei has too much at stake to gamble on risking a betrayal aboard ship. Your crew is too tight with you to accept such a betrayal if they found out, and he would most likely be killed. Is he a good pilot?::_

Mariemaia laughed, surprised that the gundam would not know about him. She had appeared to have knowledge of the other gundams. "He pilots the old-style gundam Shenlong," she said, "of which you must know."

_::Shenlong is here with him?:: _ The gundam had such an urgency in what she hesitated to call her voice. It was certainly audible to everything within range, but Fortuna didn't have vocal chords.

"Yeah, he came in with the rest of Wufei's supplies. He brought a generous amount of donated stuff from Earth." Marie was slightly puzzled at Fortuna's sudden interest. She was usually very aloof and unexcitable.

_::What's he like?::_

"Wufei? He's kind of a loner, kind of full of himself sometimes. I don't know him that well, though he was a friend of my uncle's for a long time. I have mixed feelings about getting to know him . . . since he's the one that killed my father."

There was silence, though Mariemaia sensed conflict within the Gundam. _::Is that so?:: _she asked finally. _ ::I never thought him capable. I have made a severe misjudgement on his behalf. I'm not in for a particularly pleasant future, I suppose.::_

Mariemaia chose not to answer that. She wasn't sure exactly what Fortuna was talking about anyway. "There's always been the controversy about whether or not he actually wanted Wufei to kill him. I've never really talked to him about it."

_::Your father or Chang?::_ Fortuna snapped back on subject with a suddenness that was disconcerting. Marie got the suspicion that she was covering something up, and logged it in the back of her brain to inquire about another day.

"I don't talk to my father at all," she said, sounding hurt. "You know that."

_::Just a thought, but he _might_ be able to give you some insight on that particular topic.::_ The comment dripped with sarcasm.

"Oh yeah, I forgot you don't know how to suffer," she bit back. "You're just a machine."

This time the words were laden with underlying threats. _ ::Don't play on ignorance, girl. Anything that thinks can suffer, and has. Don't assume I haven't felt as much pain as yourself.::_

Mariemaia felt her muscles clench beyond movement, as if the icy words had indeed frozen her. Was it possible— no, she shoved the thought out of her head. Fortuna couldn't _control_ her.

_"I wouldn't be so sure of that,"_ the ghost said, and she spotted him perched upon the dark green shoulder armor.

"Will you go away?" she bit out, decidedly pissed.

His expression was full of simpering. _"Being in more dimensions than the average person has certain advantages. If you wanted to, you could know everything about Fortuna. I could show you."_

"Don't bait me," she growled, definitely _not_ in the mood to put up with the harassment. "I don't need _help_ with my life."

_"All right, I was only offering," _he threw up his hands and faded.

She shivered inwardly. She had no way of knowing if he was still watching her or not. It really shatters one's sense of security.

_::As I was saying,::_ Fortuna said, obviously irritated, _::I can't abandon my mission.::_

It took Mariemaia a moment to figure out what she meant. "I wasn't talking to you. I need you right now. I was telling _him_ to leave me alone!"

Although the Gundam must have had no idea who she meant as "him," all she said was _::ah.::_

It struck Mariemaia only later that she had missed the fact that Fortuna had mentioned a mission.

**~~@[~*,~]@~~**

"And so it begins," Heero said quietly, staring out the window at the permanent half-dawn outside the Stardust Hotel, "Just as it did so many years ago."

Relena closed her eyes, willing herself to remember only the better times they had spent here. It had been right here, ten years ago, when she'd finally found him again. She leaned against her husband, not daring to believe it'd really been ten _years_ since they had stood at the same window, looking over the same sunrise, braving the delicate petals of a newborn love. It was even the same room.

He held her tightly, on hand stroking her hair possessively, exactly the same as they had done that night when they'd had enough to drink to loosen up. It was something they had neglected to tell the others that the night then had not been so much new as awkward. In the heat of the moment later that Christmas Day, after he'd sworn never to kill again, everything had first transpired. It was something truly private, as they had merely been teenagers, victims of their raging hormones and with a single output: each other. Later, she had learned had been afraid her morals were driving her to seek a guilt-driven love for him. It had been so strange when he'd admitted after dinner that night that she was the only reason he'd stopped considering a suicide that wouldn't fail. He'd promised himself that he'd find her as soon as he'd found out who he was, though now he knew it was a futile prospect. It had made her feel all the more right to come look for _him_.

She remembered the hopelessness and despair she'd felt, coming up with few clues through the long nights. It was over the next two years that she had come to realize that she'd fallen in love with him; that it wasn't merely lust and animal attraction. He'd confessed that it had been the hardest thing for him to do, leave her alone for his own selfish reasons, but when she'd confronted him with why, he'd exclaimed that he really _hadn't_ known. His mind worked as if on remote control sometimes.

He rocked her gently, unable to think of anything to say. Intimate moments like these were rare now, and he didn't want to ruin it by saying something. Her body was soft beneath her silk pajamas, her breath warm against his chest, gentile like a summer breeze. She was mother of their two children, a secretly beautiful lover and invaluable friend. She was his inner strength as much as he was her outward toughness. If ever a perfect union was possible, he was certain it was with them. He couldn't help but marvel at all they'd managed to survive the furious world still together. If there were such a thing as a perfect moment, he would have to have believed it was then. If only it could have lasted forever . . .

"Knock, knock," Duo said quietly. "Sorry to disturb you guys, but you insisted on a late-night meeting." He closed the door behind him, snatching a chair from the table and straddling it.

"Come on, kanojo," Heero whispered, reluctantly sliding his arms from around her.

Relena made a small noise of protest, lifted her head and kissed him, only then electing to back away voluntarily. Heero and Relena walked over to the couch and settled down, hands still stubbornly clutching at each other.

"C'mon, Soph!" Duo looked in the direction of his wife, who was sitting with her laptop on the other side of the room.

"Oh, hush," she sighed, tearing herself away from something obviously interesting. She joined her husband in the circle. Just as obviously weary, she leaned her head on Duo's shoulder.

"We're all tired, sweetheart," Duo assured her.

And before they could get anywhere, Sophie's personal phone rang. She sighed and answered it. There was a brief conversation full of protests before she ran off into the other room. Her father David was evidently the caller.

"Wonder what that's about," Duo muttered.

Relena closed her eyes and started to drift off again, and was shook gently by Heero when Sophie returned. "Dad says he's going to try and get us a connection with a laboratory that logs everything ever recorded in scientific context, even out in the border colonies. It'll be convenient, since the lab is on one of the colonies where we could find 'anonymous' sponsors."

"You father has those kinds of connections?" Relena asked, suddenly curious. Sophie was a private investigator who lived on exactly that. "It must run in the family."

"He's Jewish," she said, a half-smile on her stressed face. "For a long time Jews have been repressed, and to resist we formed an underground network that later branched out to just about everything. I can mention my father's name on any colony and someone will house us and feed us and give us money and offer to sweep our slates clean. He's a powerful man, which is why my mother stayed married to him for so long."

"What exactly will this lab be able to tell us?" Heero asked, trying to stick to the subject. He _had_ intended to discuss their next move from here.

"From the way he described it, they can take blood samples from us and try and run DNA matches. If blood has been logged on any computer that matches our children's, we'll have the location of where they're being held. If they're moving around— which is what I suspect— we may be able to detect a pattern."

"Why do you think they're being held in a lab so much, Soph?" Duo seemed frightened at the thought.

"Think about it," Heero answered for her. "What else would Beliv want with them? If they're holding them captive anyway, why not try and figure out what makes a great pilot? The only thing more valuable would probably be my own genetic structure, or yours."

"Like it or not, it's the most plausible theory," Sophie added, as Duo looked sick.

"I hope their not hurting them," Relena wanted nothing more than to know they were all right. _If I could just talk to them _. . . But the mental bond that had always existed had almost snapped. A horrid thought occurred to her. "Oh, Heero, what if they wiped their memories? What if they don't recognize us? What if they don't know who we are? I don't think I could bear it!"

Heero squeezed her waist. "If that's the case, I'll do anything to help them remember. There's no drug that can kill memory, love. I know, because sometimes I get bits of it back."

_And you've been part of that_, was the unspoken conclusion to that sentence. She'd heard it before, and took it as yet more evidence that they were meant for each other.

"But we can't just go there directly," Duo said, getting impatient. "It would look too obvious, especially since it's pretty far from Earth. We'll have to work our way outward, and that will take time."

"We have to hit the major money hubs, and I'm a little rusty on the economics out there," Relena picked up the conversation. "Sophie, you're probably more recent—"

"I could show you on a map," she confirmed. "But let's take a few days to get oriented. I don't know who'll respond well, and if we want to look desperate we have to hit as many that won't help as who will. It will be a little difficult to coordinate, but time is indefinitely to our advantage. If Beliv wanted to have killed Vince and your two, he would have slit their throats in their beds, not gone through this elaborate and expensive and risky feat. Damaged spirits can be recovered more easily than damaged bodies in children."

"All too true," Duo said, looking conflicted. "Though I wish we had more of a time crunch. God, I miss him."

Sophie put her arm around him and there was a moment of silence between the four of them.

Duo yawned comically suddenly, and they all burst out laughing under the tension. "Glad I could be of some help, but I think I'm telling myself it's time for bed. I'm goin' back to my room."

Just like that, Duo and Sophie disappeared and Heero and Relena were left alone once again.

"I'm not tired," Relena said. "I don't think I'll sleep until I have my arms around my babies again."

Heero drew her into a long kiss, his worries working their way to the surface now that they were with only with each other. "They'll probably squirm," he said, then said in a high voice like a child, "Please, mom! You're embarrassing me! Let me go! "

She smiled. "That sounds like our Kik."

He pulled her close, wanting the comfort she gave him when they were in each other's arms. "There are so many memories here, from both times before. How can one place mean so much?"

Relena recalled the youthful spirits who tossed about on the couch they now sat on, and the almost-adults who had allowed everything else to interfere that had no right to even be in the position to do so. Ghosts of their younger days filled the room, their actions, which had seemed so meaningless when they had first happened, meant everything when viewed as the connections that they truly had been.

"Because love always has roots. This is just a place we flee when we've lost our leaves. Things will get better from hereon out. I know they will. It always has."

"Once is chance, twice is coincidence . . . but three times leaves no room for speculation," Heero finished the quote that they had been constructing there for ten years. "This place might as well have our names on it."

With no reason not to, they set out to make the cycle complete.

**~~@[~*,~]@~~**

Quatre watched the dawn as it broke over the stage. News crews bustled about, and technicians wired the stage for the announcement. The results of the meeting were to be announced later that morning, but all he really felt like doing was sleeping. They were in Rome, and he and Milliardo and Noin had been called in to a late-night meeting with about thirty colony leaders, all newly flown in. It had been declared an "emergency" and both the blondes had panicked, but apparently in the colonies an "emergency" meant "let's get this over with."

But there had been no point in yelling about it, so they had let it go and yawned their way through the six-hour meeting. The meeting really hadn't been that pointed either. Quatre had been more and more surprised lately about the randomness of direction the colonies had politically. It seemed like a ploy to distract Earth and its army. And, as Quatre was certain of, if Earth and the colonies could not unite, Beliv could easily gain control.

"It just doesn't seem right," he commented to Milliardo.

"Damn straight," the older man said. "They're hiding something big, that's plain to see. I think someone up there's betrayed us."

"But why?"

He chuckled dryly. "You would have never known, would you? Of course, you were too close to see what's truly happening. There are old resentments left over from Operation Meteor. The colonies still see Earth as an overprotective mother. They want the freedom of making their own destiny, and Earth keeps pulling them back. If we could convince them that they'll get their freedom after they help us with the war, we might be able to pull things off, but that would be one amazing task."

"There's no way we could ever win them over," Noin said definitively. "Such an abrupt change of heart would be suspicious in the least. The truth is, they need us. We depend on their supplies, but we give them money and more people and a solid support in case something unpredictable happens. They're like teenagers; They don't want to admit they still have use for us when they dislike the way we take advantage of their dependence."

Quatre noted mentally that Noin was making a lot of parent-child associations these days. She'd better watch things when she was speaking in public, or someone might notice. They wanted to keep the baby private, as Heero and Relena had tried desperately to do, but also because they were scared Beliv would try and target them as well. "I guess people just don't want to tell the truth," he said. "No matter how hard it's staring them in the face."

"Isn't that ironic," Milliardo muttered.

Quatre left the couple to talk alone and wandered around the garden at the compound, trying to appreciate the ancient statues and frescos that in part had made the Roman culture so famous. He found himself wondering about who the artist was, and the subject. Without being a historian, he had no way of telling.

Why would the colonies want to abandon Earth? It didn't make sense. It was an ideal arrangement and equally beneficial to both sides. He came to settle on that Noin was probably right in the fact that it was merely a parent-child feud. They rebelled and Earth pursued. They fought and Earth argued. _The human mentality towards free has taken on the meaning of all or nothing,_ Quatre thought. _But if that's true, than we'll have to consider them a real threat._

Colony clusters L1, L2, L3, L4 and L5 may not have said anything about war, but they were ready to spring on it, should the opportunity even come close to being there. Quatre felt the compulsion to go check up on Milliardo and Noin. If the colonies turned against Earth, they were all stardust.

**~~@[~*,~]@~~**

"Lucrezia . . ." Milliardo scanned the crowd and turned back to her, worried. "I don't have a good feeling about any of this."

He was tense. He'd been tense ever since the meeting had started. He was starting to get on her nerves, but she knew that was only because she was tense too. When they were both nervous, it was a serious signal that something was wrong. Especially when he called her by her first name. "I know. Me too."

He put one hand over hers, seeking the touch that always seemed to bring reality back. "I don't know what's going to happen, but I get a premonition of danger. You try and stay out of the line of fire, okay?"

"Haven't I always?" she asked. "I've either got nine lives or someone looks out for me. Usually it's you. I think if anyone should stay secluded, it's you, King Peacecraft."

She could see the muscles working in his jaw as his teeth clenched. "Maybe we should move somewhere more sheltered."

Quatre returned and spotted them, now lurking in a dark corner. Hiding had never been particularly hard for the two Specials officers. "It's almost eight. Aren't you going to go listen to the statement?"

"We can hear from here," Noin said. "It's not very comfortable out in the sun."

His face grew curious. "Ah. Trouble?"

"Just a minor suspicion. No sense in taking chances," Milliardo explained quickly, trying to convey that he wished to drop the topic.

What was mainly a press conference was called into order then, though Quatre was more interested in looking for threats. He had come (undercover) as their bodyguard, and his patrol of the garden had been as much a measure of security as time to himself.

Noin and Milliardo, however, prepared to log every word of the delegate's speech. Practically nothing had been accomplished during the late-night meeting, but it would be interesting to see what conclusions they had drawn from that.

The mayor of the city introduced the L1 Cluster's main man as Representative Dewani Justus, speaker for all the colonies. He was of medium height, medium build, young and idealistic-looking. Milliardo could see at once why they had chosen him. He looked like a dreamer, a pioneer, someone to lead them on new prospects. Suddenly, he knew every word that was going to come out of the man's mouth, and felt all the worse for it.

Justus shuffled a bit before he decided he was settled at the podium. "As you all are probably aware, the colonies and Earth have in recent years had difficult relations, all of which resulted, understandably, from faults that were no one's but the own orchestrator's— may we not mention names. Of course, we can only sit back and watch history take its course, ourselves only couriers of a truth that is highly subject to our own actions. It is that which determined to us, the ambassadors of the colonies L1, L2, L3, L4 and L5 that we will _not_ continue to consider themselves part of the Earth Sphere.

Milliardo cast his eyes aside and nodded to himself. Yes, that's exactly what he'd expected. They would claim to fight on their side, but if the going got tough— which was what it was likely to do— they would pull out like the traitorous rats they were. There was absolutely nothing he could do about it.

Justice waited for the excited murmurs to calm down before he continued. He flashed a great big grin just to assure people not to assume too much. "Now, don't just automatically think we're going the way the Colony Alliance did. Each of our clusters intends to be its own nation, and we fully plan to aid Earth in the war, since it was as much declared against the earth as ourselves. I have a great faith in the alliance we'll form, and it will be much more beneficial in the long run!"

"For whom?" Noin muttered.

"It leaves a lot of room for suspicion," Milliardo added.

"Representative Justus, what exactly has gone sour between Earth and the colonies?" Called one reporter. She looked decidedly familiar. Quatre faintly recognized her as one he'd seen just about everywhere the gundam pilots had been, yet he'd never heard of her news network. That was interesting . . .

"I'm glad you asked that, Lady," Justus responded without missing a beat. "And let me assure the public that it is not a matter or soured relations, just a mere difference of opinions. I have spoken with the delegates from Earth, and although they predictably don't love the idea, they're not ready to turn us into enemies, heavens no! The only outcomes of this separation should be a lightening of the pressures we have all felt of the— unfair— prejudices between our citizens and better economy through trading that has competition instead of government restrictions."

Justus continued to take questions, which were really irrelevant. He'd covered the main idea, and all three of the not-so-happy-campers could plainly see they were expecting the planet to fall to Beliv's forces. _But we'd been getting information that Marie had been keeping him off the colonies,_ Quatre thought. Whose information was false?

As the conference began to dissolve, Quatre was accompanying Milliardo and Noin to their car when he felt an odd tingling in his spine. Hoping to look inconspicuous, he sidled up to Noin and, his hand hidden in the shadow between them, slid his compact rifle from its wrist holder. "I think we got trouble," he whispered out of the side of his mouth. "Try and get in front of Milliardo.

"Quatre—?" Milliardo turned with a curious look when Noin did as told and tried to overtake her husband.

Quatre tried to give him a "don't look like you know anything" signal but it was too late. The man who had been following them noticed the reaction. Knowing unconsciously that it was too late to look nonchalant, Quatre spun around and threw himself in precisely the right direction. A colony guard that had been uncomfortably close to them during the brief announcement had his own nine-millimeter halfway out of his hip holster, but that halfway wasn't good enough. He hadn't expected the undercover blonde to come hurtling at him.

It was a good, clean tackle, with a yell from the bodyguard to summon the police (several of which arrived within seconds). A hard blow against the concrete had dazed the guard, and Quatre quickly disarmed him. He turned to make sure Milliardo and Noin were all right, and felt the barrel of a gun touch his temple. Okay, so the potential assassin had an accomplice. He froze, his first suspect pinned beneath him. "Make one sound and I'll blow your brains out your nose," a deep, husky female voice said.

Unfortunately, she'd failed to take into account the fact that Quatre had two loaded guns fast enough. Blindly, he fired in the voice's direction and ducked in case of a reflex shot, but it didn't come. He turned to see the woman staring dumbly at the bullet hole in her stomach. Quatre caught her as she fell forward, dropping the gun in shock. "Milliardo, Noin, get out of here. Go on ahead. I have to fill out reports anyway!" he called, but the King and his Queen had long since fled to the safety of their car.

An hour later, in the custody of the local sheriff and after numerous interrogations, Quatre got the news that the woman had died. He cursed, although he'd known full well that the chance had been there when he'd fired. Now, though, the colonies had something against Earth. He was certain that they wouldn't mention that he'd done it in self-defense, or that she'd been assigned to assist in assassinating Milliardo and/or Lucrezia Noin Peacecraft. Quatre recalled a line from a famous work of literature; "It was a time of dark, dark despair."

In the end, with Trowa in London going over terms of law and liability and the testimony of several eyewitnesses, the deputy was able to log the shooting and death of the woman as self-defense. Quatre breathed a sigh of relief on behalf of the Sanc Kingdom, but knew he still had a lot of personal guilt to fight off. Then, there was the fact that the colonies would want his head. It was best to flee back to the refuge the Peacecraft country offered before he was caught out in the open. How good it would be just to get back and sleep after over twenty-four hours without that luxury!

As he signed his papers and took the last leave of the station, he paused to watch the late-night news on the television in the waiting area. There was coverage of the conference, the conclusion announced by Rep. Justus, and afterward the attempted shooting. One of the press cameras had caught Quatre's tackle, and he couldn't help but marvel at how quick his reaction had been. Gundam pilot reflexes never truly went away, no matter how much you tried to grow out of them, he reflected.

Absently, he wondered if the human race would ever outgrow anger, violence and war.

Before he could run out the door, the secretary called for him. "Mr. Winner, there's someone on the phone who would like to speak with you."

Quatre grudgingly accepted the receiver. "This is Quatre Winner speaking."

"Mr. Winner, this is Kammie Exeter from a news company in London. I was wondering, perhaps, if we could arrange for an interview. I would like to get your opinion on the conference."

"I won't be able to release any information that the police hasn't authorized me to," he warned her. "I follow the law."

"Of course, Mr. Winner, I understand. If I have your consent, however, I would like to have a word or two with you. I won't pry if you tell me I can't hold certain information. I, too, follow the law, and respect it. You're a respectable man, Mr. Winner."

Quatre accepted the sideways compliment with little more than an acknowledging word. "I would like to get some rest tonight, and I have a long way home. I'll keep an unoccupied time slot for myself at fifteen-thirty, local time. I'll inform the guard at the Sanc Kingdom border you have my permission to pass, and I'll have an escort bring you to a specified location. We'll meet there, okay?"

"Certainly. Thank you very much, Mr. Winner."

"Don't mention it," he said. "Seriously."

Yes, now he remembered her. She was the reporter intent on drinking up all the major stories of the war. Maybe it was an active history project. Whatever it was, he _would_ stick to the truth.

Yawning, he made his way out to the waiting car and thought happily of a restful night's sleep.

********************************************

_Now write conclusion. Yeah._

Well, I'm out of clever things to say, really.

Oh, if you like, check out Legend of Destiny by The Phoenix. It's really cool (although it's not Gundam :-P) I helped edit it, so you know it's worth it!

Check out Chapter 3 l8er:** AC 208: The Search for Truth (Part III): "The Player's Strategy."**

__

-Itsumo


	3. They Player's Strategy

_Oy vey, it's late. Ah well, summer! I don't have to get up early tomorrow! _Nya nya nya_ . . . er, sorry. I'm not tired anyway, and I'm going to finish Brightly Burning if I have to not sleep for three days straight. I've got a new strategy for writing this fic, which means that whenever I publish a chapter I'll have the one after it done already so I can write a tempter (and also so I don't look dumb and totally change something by accident). Oh yea . . . I'm putting my fanfiction up on my new Angelfire website (http://www.angelfire.com/anime2/justlove) and I'm looking for other people's stuff, too. I'd really like original stuff (I don't want a whole lotta GW 'cause I've only got 50 megs). Don't worry, though, I'm still going to keep posting on FFN! It's just so big that I get tired of it sometimes. I'm also working on my own Manga series that's going to be mostly available online in installments (because otherwise I'll run out of room) but I don't know when that'll be. I'll keep you updated when I can. For now . . . tanoshimu (I love my new Jap-Eng dictionary)!_

**AC 208: The Search for Truth (Part III) **

"The Player's Strategy"

The midnight-blue tinged the buildings in colony X-692002, and Erik Beliv noted with some satisfaction that they had paid enough attention to the workings of the Colony Alliance to know the colors of his fleet. Back in the docking bays, precious cargo was being moved to its more permanent home in the laboratories on the colony. They would be hard to find, especially with Dorothy keeping watch. Even that bastard Yuy wouldn't be able to find them there.

The children had been quite uncooperative since they'd been acquired. Of course, little could be expected from the offspring of that overrated Jap, but he _knew_ the child spoke English. Her mother did, for Christ's sake! As for the infants . . . it was probably a childish ploy on part of the girl to resist him. Even after her memories were wiped, she still bore an unequaled hatred for her captor before she even knew it was him who held her. He took a bit of perverse pleasure in wondering if perhaps it was the truly indomitable human spirit which drove her to keep struggling even though she knew she'd just kill herself from exertion. _Free or die,_ he thought. _We must be free or die._

Well, perhaps after she'd fulfilled the mission he had for the girl (and her sibs, if it took that long) she could be set free to live on her own like she so desperately wanted. She wouldn't survive without the skills he'd so conveniently neglected to teach her, but he had no reason to care. She was just a tool, as all human beings were just tools. What an irony, to die after being set free! He chuckled with his twisted sense of humor.

The meeting had gone well. Beliv had stabilized the battle lines between the Alliance and Earth (and the miscellaneous, pathetic aid from the nearby colonies) and was managing to hold back those selfless warriors of the Phantom Runners. Those were a vicious bunch, headed by that wily daughter of Treize's. They were certainly the biggest threat to this new establishment of colonies, and consistently the most annoying. He'd never met young people so determined to maintain peace and justice.

Yes, the war was immoral and unnecessary, but Beliv had promised himself that he would enjoy the spoils of war at least once in his life. Mariemaia was fighting for the just cause. He didn't deny that to himself, and cared less than that much. Of course, he convinced his council that everything was in due course the right road. There was a difference between knowing the path and walking the path. Most of those old politicians were so blind that they wouldn't know a mobile suit if it stepped on their polished shoes.

Akiko (Subject 00, as she knew herself) gave him a sullen, angry look as he walked into her bunking-room. The walls were heavily padded with a slight beige color to them, somewhat soothing although the little one seemed minimally comfortable. She'd fought so hard against being separated from the babes that Beliv's scientists had advised that they stayed with her. So they would, he'd grudgingly agreed. Perhaps if Subject 00 was allowed certain . . . privileges . . . she would accept the terms of her assignment and allow herself to be trained in adequate ways to accept what was potentially such a punishing project. Beliv couldn't wait to try out his new weapon on its one and only purpose.

The suppliers of their mobile suits expressed displeasure when they discovered the kidnapped children. Beilv's source had openly doubted that the child would be very useful when the time came to carry out the one mission that would cause all existence to cease. Of course, his friends didn't know _that_ little aspect. So, it became a battle not only of good and evil but also of right versus wrong. It was all so very, very entertaining.

Until then, the battle went on against the child and her strong will.

**~~@[~*,~]@~~**

Heero's fingertips brushed her from behind, sending shivers up Relena's spine. She nestled snugly up against his side, fighting the urge to accost him for scaring her. She'd been standing out the window again, deep in thought. "So much to think about," she muttered.

"Mn," he replied, letting her rest her head on his shoulder, and himself staring out into space. Indeed, there was much to consider. Unknown to his wife, he had lain awake long into the night, his memory stirring and recalling things he hadn't previously been aware of. She had found him early that morning at his computer with a fervor bordering on disparity. It seems that sometimes she was the only one who knew how fragile he was, and that was sometimes a comfort, sometimes a point of sadness.

He hadn't told her exactly what had haunted him so that night, the memories of needles— he shivered— and drugs and hours of endless torture. He'd rather he'd not remembered at all! He couldn't bear to think of it happening to his own children.

There was a knock on the door. Relena tore herself away from her obviously hurting husband and invited Duo and Sophie in quietly. "You feeling well enough to think or should I get them settled and pour some alcohol?" she asked him quietly.

"I'll be all right," he replied. "Isn't it a little early in the day to start drinking?"

"Not necessarily. A little bit helps clear the mind." She kissed him lightly on the cheek and they both settled on the couch opposite from Duo and Sophie.

After brief pleasantries, Heero got straight to the business that was eating his heart out from the inside. "Sophie, did your dad ever manage to get a hold of this "laboratory" you told us about?"

She smiled. "Indeed he did, Heero. They're absolutely ecstatic to help us. They even went to so much trouble to arrange us a cover story and an excuse to visit the colony on our "tour."

"Wow," Relena said. "Your father is a well-liked man, isn't he?"

Sophie smiled. "I love him dearly, after all. People respect him in our net-community because he takes any amount of time necessary to be with his family. Unfortunately, he was unable to save my siblings from my mother's clutches, but that's an entirely different story for a later time."

"So in the meantime, we should probably get to know this plan they've arranged," Relena said.

"I talked directly to them this morning— they were able to tell me it was a secure line, even in a _hotel_— and it seems quite complicated." Duo tried to pull something out of his pocket. He struggled with it for a moment before finally wrestling it free. "I described to them our basic strategy, and they gave us some hints for good places to look for money, since they _do_ have to charge us. We got some colonies that are heavy supporters of the Universal Jew Organization and some that aren't. There's no pattern to the jumps, and the lab isn't our last stop, as we had thought. That way it would be less suspicious. She suggested you be the speechmaker, Heero, since you've had so much success with that lately. It'll earn a lot of support from those people who love family stuff."

Duo unfolded a rather good-sized map of the solar system he'd "borrowed" from downstairs. It had highlights and numerous circles in pen, with lines drawn in between, numbered. It looked pretty random, but Relena realized right away that it wasn't. A lot of thought had been put into it, and somebody had been up all last night planning it. It was obvious David pressured enough for his contacts to know how very important his daughter was. More than that, the pattern would be extremely hard to predict, since there really wasn't one.

"Duo, you've got straight lines in between the colonies. Are you sure that's the best way to travel? It might look better if we took a more roundabout way, as if we hadn't decided where to go next in advance." Relena looked at him expectantly.

Duo considered. "Yeah, that's probably a good idea."

Heero ran his fingers up his wife's spine again as she leaned over to examine the map more closely. "Yes, Heero? Did you have something to say?" She shivered again at the sensation and cast him a look that plainly said to stop.

"I did," he said quietly. Duo gave him a curious look. "Last night I couldn't sleep, which probably isn't a big surprise to you, and I got up and turned on my computer. For some reason, intuition maybe, I started trying to crack those files that Relena gave me last time we were here, if you recall the story. I'd been having marginal success before, but last night I got them cracked. They're not about you, Wufei, Trowa, Quatre and Zechs as we suspected. They're records of the Gundam project, starting before Tallgeese. It's a bit cryptic and more than a little vague, but the message is very clear."

"What? I don't get it. What did you find out?" Duo's brows furrowed in thought.

"Operation Meteor goes much deeper than any of us could have imagined."

Duo had almost expected a roll of thunder at his words. "And _no_ _one_ would have predicted that," he said sarcastically.

Heero shook his head, knowing Duo would have taken it lightly. "Not as deep and as complicated as this gets. I don't understand most of it."

_That_ caught all of their attention. As long as all of them had known Heero, he'd always been able to comprehend politics of any kind with ease.

**~~@[~*,~]@~~**

"Quat . . ." Trowa cornered him in a room before he had time to escape. "I've really been meaning to talk to you."

Quatre had known that, and had been purposely avoiding him. The abandonment stung more than he was willing to admit, even though Trowa had warned him about his disposition toward the _opposite_ sex. He just wished he'd been there. It was illogical and childish, perhaps, but he didn't care at this point. Everything seemed to be going wrong.

"Look, I know you've been running from me, okay?" Trowa said blatantly before Quatre could make up an excuse to leave. "Frankly, I don't blame you. I don't want you to get the wrong impression about how I met Anja, because it was completely by accident. I didn't go out looking for women just because you were gone. You know me better than that, and I know you do."

Quatre gave him a slightly disbelieving look. Nothing out of Trowa's mouth seemed to make sense. Of course, he didn't really understand how he could have switched loyalties so quickly.

"I warned you, though, so don't try and tack all this guilt onto me. I told you it wasn't going to last forever, and not long at that. I might want this relationship with Anja to last, and I didn't want to make it last a terribly long time with you. It's not like I'm in love with her so much— we're not even lovers, and I _know_ that's what you thought we were— but I don't claim to have ever been that much in love with you either."

Quatre gritted his teeth. Of course, he'd always known deluding himself that Trowa's feelings were other than he'd claimed was a bad idea. He couldn't help it. He'd always wanted some kind of permanence to his universe, but everything always seemed to slip away so easy, like water running between his fingers. "Then why did we even try?" he asked, the bitterness in his voice sounding so completely out of place.

"We had a profound friendship, just like it has always been," Trowa replied quietly, knowing he had finally gotten his comrade's attention. "And you know what? I think that maybe I should have never let you goad me into our little experience, because what we had is ruining our friendship! I don't want to lose you as the best friend I've ever had over a woman, but I will if it turns out she means that much to me. I warned you, and any dreams you might have had of a distant future with me were your own delusion. I'm sorry, Quatre, but I simply can't understand in that kind of frivolous relationship working out. You know I feel that way. It tried to make that very clear from the beginning."

He _had,_ but Quatre had always been a dreamer. He'd always wanted to believe in something _real_, but life was always so very shattered. It was really his own fault, he realized, but it still hurt. "You still . . .you could have at least sent me a letter."

"I could have," he admitted. "It's not that the idea didn't occur to me, I just thought it would be impersonal. I wanted to wait until you came home to explain, because otherwise you would have been stewing in your own juices that entire time. Something like that could have caused some bad decisions. You know that."

Yes, brewing over your personal life was one of the best ways to be killed on the job. "I . . . suppose."

Trowa took Quatre's chin in his hand and lifted the blonde's face gently, forcing Quatre's eyes to meet his gaze. "No words in the world will apologize for that betrayal, I feel. I'm sorry, and I hope you know that. Fate has a way of playing unexpected cards, and I'm still trying to bluff my way out of another hand. Don't let me down. You're still the best friend I've ever had."

Quatre leaned forward and kissed him, for the last time. As he knew well, broken hearts and minds do heal. It would be good if he still had a friend to help him do it.

**~~@[~*,~]@~~**

Run:\Distance_Location

Locate:\Mother_Source

+Location Confirmed+

+Connection Pending . . . . . . . . . . . Connection Made+

+Updating Real-Time Data Processing+

+Receiving Greetings () Inquiry+

THEY'RE GETTING CLOSER.

__

I KNOW.

WHAT SHOULD WE DO?

__

NOTHING. THIS HAD NEED TO BE RESOLVED NOW.

WHAT DIFFERENCE DOES IT MAKE?

__

IT COULD BE THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN PROSPERING AND DESTRUCTION, MY DEAR.

**+Connection Terminated by Mother_Source+**

Run:\Shut_Down

+Dump Connection Log (Y/N)?+

+[WARNING: Mother_Source Wants Them to Know]+

Y

**~~@[~*,~]@~~**

"Wufei, I think you should go home," Mariemaia said. "You've no use here. We have plenty of good pilots, and you have other things back on Earth to the point where I don't want to ask you to put your life in danger. That message you gave me from Une said that you'd face no diplomatic penalty for returning, when you do so. I think you should just go now. You're causing me a lot more stress than I'm willing to handle right now."

"I need to stay," Wufei insisted. "There is business besides watching you, which I think you're fully capable of yourself, that I have out here now."

"Dammit, Chang!" It was plain she had a headache, and was probably approaching her moon-days. "First, I've got a Mobile Suit who defies my commands and doesn't seem to need a pilot, then my father starts haunting me, and now I've got a defective Gundam pilot who's running a private operation from my Organization! Can't you do it somewhere else?"

Wufei couldn't help but feel sympathetic. "I wouldn't have bothered if I didn't need the protection of a private army," he said. "Heero and Duo are doing all they can on their own, but I think I might be able to get closer than they will under your tent."

"What exactly is this you're trying so hard not to tell me about?" she asked, exasperated. "I think I at least have a right to know."

"Akiko, Raina and Vincent have been kidnapped."

_That_ caught her attention. "Beliv?" she asked directly, receiving a confirming nod. "You know, I wouldn't have put it below him. So, what? You're going to try and locate them with our help?"

"Yes, but also to warn you not to destroy anything. We don't know where they're being held, so they could just as easily be on board one of the envoy fleet's ships. Until we locate the children, I don't think you should try and destroy the fleet."

"So what do you want me to do? Take prisoners? Our army is way too small for that! Where could we keep them?" Marie's eyes bugged out her head in disbelief.

"We could keep them aboard their ship."

"And _that_ isn't risky?"

"We could put a lockdown on their systems. Before I left, Vincent gave me the override codes that he'd managed to scrounge from that mess of a bio-limb chip"

She gritted her teeth. "I don't like it."

"Neither do I, but it's not like we have much choice."

In the end, Mariemaia let him stay. Upset and slightly angry that the universe had turned to her disadvantage, she sought out the company of Fortuna.

The Gundam listened for some time as she confessed her anxiety over the new predicament.

_::I must admit, I'm not the best person for advice,::_ she said. _::Myself I have severely underestimated the situation_.::

"How so?" Part of her stresses had been the severe secrecy Fortuna had with her. "You know, I'm getting sick of being in the dark with my own Gundam."

_::I know, but it is difficult for me.::_ Fortuna's wings rustled with— nervousness? _::How I envy you humans, able to be ignorant so much of the time to all this background noise!::_

Over the course of the next several minutes, Marie coaxed her gently into admitting most of her conflict.

_::There is so much more at stake than I believe I can explain well, and more than I think it would do your sanity good to know. You humans are such innocent little children compared to the rest of the universe. I've found it very refreshing, despite the bloody battles. At first, I was reluctant, but that is all but gone now. I think, perhaps, I like it better here than before the . . . but you need not know of that. Your young mind is not ready.::_

"Bullshit," Marie said simply, captivated although completely lost. "I'm a lot more capable of understanding things than you might think we _humans_ are. It's easy to hide, in all the stupid things we say and do."

_::It was not a ventured guess, young one. I know you are not ready.::_

"Oh?" Back to a dead end. The gundam could withhold all the information she wanted to.

_::Because you are not willing to forgive.::_

**~~@[~*,~]@~~**

Phailin bundled her still-damp hair into a knot on top of her head and ran for the meeting. She'd intended to give herself more time to get cleaned up, but she hadn't known the funeral was that day. She cursed as she tripped over a rock with her bare feet, stubbing her toe rather badly. Swearing more colorfully, in multiple languages, she managed to hobble to the campfire just in time. She offered in apology, "I've had much to do today, elders."

Phanck had replaced Kanm as Head Elder, and let the almost-tardiness go with a friendly smile. Finally, something had gone _right_ today. Many of the adult members of the community had assembled to witness Phailin's overtaking of the clan. The ceremonies proceeded quickly, without fault or a climax. Phailin assumed a reserved position of the counsel, something she would have been given even if she were not present.

"I don't understand why you won't accept the leadership inherited to you," Phanck admitted as she persisted in refusing to actively take the office. "Yesterday you were very plain about the title bestowed to you."

"It must appear as though I am not here," she replied, loud enough for those around to hear, "or I will be killed."

A ripple of surprise and intrigue rippled briefly though the assembled audience before order was called for. Phailin then proceeded to tell the tale of the truth about Shenmu and the bounty hunters after her head (literally), and by the time she was done her last words were met with a disconcerting silence.

It was a few moments before Phanck spoke again. "Than, I shall accept the office until you are present to take it from me," he said firmly. "You know anyone here will protect you with their lives, Phailin—"

"I would like guards," she said, relieved.

"They will be stationed around and inside your house this very hour."

"None in my bedroom," she said. "I am married."

"Of course."

"And I want Chatalerm and his lady moved in with me."

This time, there was a pause. "Havens, child! Why?"

"Because Jen owes Phailin her life, and would leap in front of her to defend against assassins," Chatalerm said for her. "Men from Shenmu would not kill her because she's a Chang. They would risk angering the remnants of the clan, and they have tendencies to be quite vengeful, as our ancestors know well."

"Well spoken," Phailin followed. "Not to mention the fact that Chatalerm's an extremely competent bodyguard himself." There was ample truth in _that_.

Phanck saw the wisdom in the words, even if many did not (and were still blinded by an unfair hatred and suspicion toward the girl Jen) approve. "It is done," he said without hesitation.

Phailin sighed with relief. That was one less monkey off her back.

For now, in any case.

**~~@[~*,~]@~~**

Her vision was blurry, and her body hurt. Nothing seemed right, and the room was dark. She didn't remember being drugged, and this time it certainly hadn't felt that way.

It had been pure torture, nothing that should ever have been subjected to someone so young. That man with the dark beard . . . was evil. There were no two ways around it. She had no way of knowing, but there was no way this could be right.

The memories . . . no, the pain! She forced the recollection away quickly, forcing herself to try and focus on something _good_. There was something . . . snow? Someone had been there. Had there been laughter? She could almost remember what it sounded like. So close . . . but she couldn't touch anything with her mind. It was all shadow-chasing, hope that was so much like the child they were trying to repress. No, a human being cannot tell the inner child to go away. That was her one saving grace.

There had been an argument about "test conditions" outside a while ago, the dark-bearded man's rough voice being cut short by the shrill insistence of a cruel, sharp-edged woman who she'd seen once and never wanted to again. He wasn't supposed to interfere now that she was where she was. She wasn't ready to believe she'd like it better if he repeated it again instead of more tests. She'd rather be dizzy from blood loss though needles than from lacerations. Oh God, it hurt!

One of the babies started to wail and suddenly—

**~~@[~*,~]@~~**

With a cry of pain and surprise, Heero doubled over and all but fell off the couch. He clutched at his stomach, totally oblivious to his wife beside him and the others across. He'd been thinking about Akiko; where she was, what she was doing and if she was hurt. He'd been trying to reach with his thoughts, as he'd always been able to find his daughter in the back of his skull.

If it hadn't been that she shared his own genetics with her, he wouldn't have even recognized that mind! It was like looking across a nuclear wasteland; there was nothing even remotely recognizable except the shape itself. Everything was gone, filled with a kind of hopeless despair and anger and pain. As if sensing it from across a desert, he had heard the familiar and heartbreaking sound of Raina crying.

"Heero!" Relena grabbed his shoulders and reality snapped back into his consciousness.. The room seemed painfully bright, the colors too bold. Relena's thin fingers clutched at him in panic, shaking like she was in a train station. But it wasn't her that was trembling so bad, he realized. It was himself.

"What _happened_?" Duo shouted, diving forward on his knees as if to make sure he hadn't been shot.

He was breathing too hard to speak, staring at his own tight hands with a look of horror on his face. It was imagination; he tried to convince himself, failing in the next instant. That pain and exhaustion and disconsolateness had been real . . . and all too familiar. With broken syllables, he uttered, "Aku."

Evil . . . and it had been so very despicable. His daughter could feel it, and he knew it. He clenched his fists. _Kare o korosu_, the thought fiercely, feeling hot blood race through his veins. First his wife . . . now his _daughters_ . . . Beliv was a dead man. He had no pity for someone so _hentaisha_.

"Heero, what's going on?" Relena was worried. He never complained about pain . . . ever. His heart was strong, his body healthy, but he looked as if he was in immense pain. With a start, she remembered that he'd spoken of some kind of connection with their daughter. "What did you see?" she whispered, not really sure she wanted to know.

"Evil," he said again. "Something no one should ever see alive in this universe. We don't have much time, or she'll be broken entirely. We must hurry. We must leave _tomorrow_. I have to— I have to go see Zero." Back stiff and eyes on the floor, he stood and all but ran from the room.

"I've never heard that voice before," Duo said in the silence of the shocked women. "He sounded almost _desperate._"

"I've heard it before," Relena replied, sounding shaken. "He's only used it when he'd mainlining to kill. I don't know what he saw, but Heero _never_ gets that angry."

"Then we should leave before noon," Sophie said. "I didn't like his expression at all."

**~~@[~*,~]@~~**

_You lied to me, Zero._ Heero clutched the controls in his fists, face unreadable but eyes filled with unmeasurable pain. _You lied. To me. Damn you._

NOT EVEN I CAN PREDICT THE FUTURE,the blue words scrolled across the dead screen. HAD I BEEN WANTING TO COMMIT SUICIDE, PERHAPS I WOULD HAVE LIED TO YOU. I HAVE KNOWN YOU FOR YEARS, PILOT YUY. I WOULD NOT PUT YOU PAST THAT.

"She's _dying_, damn you! She's lost and alone her mind's been savaged! Why didn't you protect her? WHY?" He screamed, the sound muted by the thick walls of the cockpit. As long as he lived, he'd never forget those images. She should have known him right away, but she'd pushed him out as if he'd been the enemy instead of her own father! He lashed out at the controls, the rough buttons biting into his knuckles and forearm with a raw agony that felt so fiercely satisfying. If only he could find some way to take the pain away from _her_ . . . God, he'd die! Blood ran freely down his arm, staining his pale, sickly skin and the metal floor so perfectly that he almost willed himself to do it more.

FOOL, Zero accosted him. YOU WERE SO MUCH MORE PRACTICAL WHEN THERE WAS NO ONE IN YOUR WAY. HUMANS ARE SO EMOTIONALLY DELICATE. YOU JUST HAD TO FIND SOMEONE TO SHARE YOUR LIFE WITH, AND ONLY CAUSED YOURSELF MORE!

"It is what makes me human," he said quietly, his voice deadly. "Love, hatred, pain, revenge, life and death. It is what makes me want to exist. I can't kill myself. Others depend on me. I'll never go back to being a machine of war. But, of course, you'll never understand that."

I UNDERSTAND, was the reply after a long, pensive hesitation. I UNDERSTAND MUCH MORE THAN YOU THINK I DO. MACHINES CAN EXIST IN THE WORLD OF EMOTION, BUT WHEN THE MIND OF A MACHINE LOSES SOMETHING IT DEPENDS ON SO HEAVILY, IT IS RUINED. NO, I PREFER TO STAY INDIFFERENT. YOU DON'T LOSE.

But if you don't risk losing, you can't win. Heero had figured that out long ago, and then he'd been able to acknowledge Relena. He'd never give her up to become a perfect soldier. He wouldn't give her up to find everything about whom he once was. He wouldn't lose his family. If the universe were destroyed, he'd find some way to save them. He'd kill himself if they would live.

THINGS DO NOT WORK SO EFFORTLESSLY, the monitor read when he glanced up again. IF THE UNIVERSE IS DESTROYED, SOMETHING SO BLISSFULLY IMPERFECT AS YOU HUMANS WILL NEVER BE ABLE TO EXIST AGAIN.

**~~@[~*,~]@~~**

+Locate:\Mother_Source+

+Mother Source Located+

+Connection Pending . . . . . . . . . . . Connection Made+

+Receiving Acknowledgement+

_WHAT DO YOU WANT?_

I . . . HAVE BEEN THINKING.

_IT'S WHAT YOU WERE DESIGNED FOR._

CUT THE SARCASM. I HAVE A QUESTION, MY OMNISCIENT COLLEAGUE.

_WHAT?_

THESE HUMANS . . . HOW DO THEY UNDERSTAND SO LITTLE AND YET UNDERSTAND SO MUCH?

_I DON'T UNDERSTAND THE RELEVANCE._

THEY REFUSE TO BELIEVE THAT THINGS WILL BE MORE STABLE IF THEY GIVE UP EMOTION.

_HUMANS DEPEND ON EMOTION. YOU KNOW THAT._

BUT IF THEY DIDN'T FEEL HATRED AND REVENGE AND UNDYING LOVE AND DEVOTION, COULDN'T THEY LIVE IN SATISFACTION AND THE PEACE THEY CLAIM TO WANT SO MUCH?

_SOMETHING THAT LIVES SO HEAVILY OFF ITS OWN EMOTIONS CANNOT EXIST OFF OF MERE SATISFACTION. HAVE YOU FORGOTTEN WHAT IT'S LIKE TO BE THAT WAY, AFTER SO LONG?_

I SUPPOSE I REFUSE TO BELIEVE THAT I WAS ONCE SO IGNORANT.

_THERE COMES A TIME OF UNDERSTANDING FOR EVERYONE. HIS TIME WILL COME. I KNOW YOU BELIEVE HE'S THE ONE, AND I DON'T THINK YOU'LL BE DISAPPOINTED. PERHAPS YOU HAVE UNDERESTIMATED THE POWER OF CONVICTIONS. MAYBE IT HAS BEEN TOO LONG FOR YOU._

IS CONVICTION NECESSARILY EMOTION?

_I THINK YOU WOULD BE SURPRISED._

**+Connection lost+**

::_Damn!_::

**+Attempt to Reconnect Failed+**

+WARNING: Attempting to Connect Again May Cause Damage to Hardware+

+Attempt Again (Y/N)?+

N

_::How can something so useless to the material universe be so significant in determining its fate? Damn her for letting me leave. I can't go back. I can't! There's nothing there that's worth the pain! Love is so alluring, so useless!::_

**~~@[~*,~]@~~**

It was fifteen-thirty, and she was late. Quatre stared impatiently out the boat-house's window, his hands restless, wondering if something serious had happened.

He'd never gone behind someone's back like this before, and he wasn't sure Milliardo would be all that happy with him. His nervousness was clearly evident. He wondered how much Miss Exeter was going to ask for.

There they were. The guard in his car indicated to her that Quatre was inside, and there was little more time for him to speculate. As the border guard drove off (looking a little nervous about leaving), he opened the door.

He didn't notice right away that she was a little hunched, or that she held her hand over her stomach. He was that distracted. When he did notice, he wondered how he could have missed it. "You're bleeding!" he cried, eyes widening. Her face was ashen, although she had evidently spent time on her appearance earlier. The entire bottom half of her blouse was red, as was her hand. "You need medical attention, Miss—"

She shook her head, face pinched in pain. "I don't . . . have time for that, Mr. Winner. Please . . . I'll go as soon as I'm sure . . ."

"What happened?" Quatre insisted.

"Nine-millimeter . . . at my last rest stop. I'll be fine . . . but I must . . ." She stumbled, and Quatre caught her.

"You need a doctor _now_." She was obviously faint from blood loss, but she fought him with surprising strength.

"Please . . . Mister Winner . . . you must . . . hear me out!" She struggled out of his grasp and leaned on her car, the ground beneath her beginning to redden. "I won't have time . . . if you don't!"

Quatre grudgingly paused long enough for her to outline things in sketchy detail.

"I've been trying . . . for years . . . to come in contact . . . with one of you pilots. I have . . . important information . . . that you need." Clumsily, she pawed in her purse with her free hand, extracting a slim circular computer disc case. "See that this gets . . . to Heero Yuy . . . somehow. Tell him . . . tell him everything he's . . . been looking for . . . is in there! Seven of my colleagues . . . have died for this . . . Mister Winner . . . and many more . . . have suffered tragic losses. It doesn't matter . . . if I die now . . . because if you . . . give that to Heero . . . it will save billions . . . no, it will save . . . more than there's . . . a number for."

Quatre accepted it with a heavy stomach, knowing she wouldn't make it. "I'm going to call emergency," he told her.

She managed a choking laugh, which brought up more blood. "It's too late . . . for me. But I couldn't . . . let this slip . . . from my fingers. We have . . . enemies . . . among us."

Quatre grabbed her again as she fell into full unconsciousness, realizing that there was no way he could possibly save her. The nearest hospital was at least a half-hour away, and she'd probably been shot hours ago. He could feel her short, interrupted breaths across his arm.

And then she was gone.

He laid her head in his lap until the guard came back to check on them, but Cammie Exeter's body had long gone cold. He pondered over the disc, wondering what could possibly have been so important that she couldn't risk losing it at a hospital. Cammie's death made him feel an urgency he'd thought was lost.

His hands were bloody, and he'd thought she'd come for an interview!

*****************************************************

_A little dark, a little edgy. The universe in need of saving . . . yeah, I know it's a cheesy plot, but it works real well later on, I promise. _

Let's see . . . anything I forgot? Well, I've been kinda using a lot of lines from the Matrix and Crouching Tiger, but I've been watching them a lot lately, so gimme a break.

So anyway . . . the conspiracy gets deeper and some other stuff happens that is very dark and stuff. Yeah. Go me. We get a rare visit with Une. Fortuna sends a note to Mariemaia (in which she calls her "catling;" blame Mercedes Lackey on that one) about why she can't tell her some things. Quatre gets the late Cammie Exeter's information to Heero. Phailin finds out a little more about the new Chang girl.

I like summer, but I hate baseball tournaments. Yuck, concessions. On the up side, I did see this really kawaii golden retriever puppy. But I think I'm almost done with the *won't say it* stuff now, so I can work on my fic and post **AC 208: The Search for Truth (Part IV): "The Trail of Blood."**


	4. The Trail of Blood

_*Sniff* I just finished watching Gladiator. That is such a good movie . . . but so sad. It's one of like two movies that made me cry [Chibi Mara: "Yeah, go ahead and embarrass yourself."] (and no, the other was _not_ Titanic, it was Crouching Tiger). I downloaded that last little bit of music at the end, you know, the one called "And Now We are Free" and I'm sniffling again._

Okay, you know that was really sappy. I'm not normally a sappy person. In fact, I beat people up regularly (Only if they deserve it!), so normally people do not call me sensitive. That's why writing this fic's been so hard, I guess . . . or maybe I'm just becoming female. Who knows. Ack, PMS attack.

BACK TO THE FIC . . . umm, I'm really working on chap 15 to AC 207, but I'm putting a lot more work into it than I did to the first one. I'm also working hard on redoing AC 206, since it needs a major tune-up. For now, just sink a little deeper into the conspiracy:

**AC 208: The Search for Truth (Part IV) **

"The Trail of Blood"

_Long, long ago when I was young, I witnessed the murder of a wonderful, undeserving man. My glory-days soon were gone as I was overcome with anger and a sense of abandonment, for this man had been close to me. Times declined, and I was all but forgotten. When we received an envoy from a place more exciting and in need of our services, we could only do so good as comply._

We thought we were so invincible. We thought we'd be doing you a favor. But we knew from the moment we saw him, Tallgeese was not one of us. The human mind devises things that even they themselves cannot handle. I once heard that as a whole the people of Earth had enough weaponry to destroy their own world a dozen times over, perhaps more. The beautiful, pristine planet could have been nothing more than vacuum.

I can no more deny your originality— or your courage— than I can deny my own existence. However, with such imagination comes a great potential for disaster. I admire your selflessness, little one, and I'm going to try like hell to keep you alive.

There is so much at stake, more than I can explain until you've come to realize that none of it was your father's fault. He was an unfortunate pawn with enough wits about him to turn things around to his advantage. His actions had a secret purpose, one I know you aren't ready to accept. He never could have wished his own death on himself unless it would have worked to your advantage.

He knew much more, thanks to Epyon—that rat!— _than anyone had intended, and was the perfect example of how we had underestimated the earthen people. He tried so desperately to reach us, and it only ended in disaster. He salvaged what he could, but the one person he would have been willing to trust had already been snatched. With his death, he left a message that I promised I'd deliver one day. He's tried so hard to keep in touch._

Now, though, I fear that things are moving fast and when they_ find _you_, you will not be ready. Perhaps I've underestimated you, and I am known for being withholding, but I don't think my judgment has failed me on this account. I've come to you. I've never broken a promise yet, but I've found you worse off than I could have imagined you'd be. My rival is fresh out for my blood since he found out I'd trusted him so little, and my dearest friend is no longer so._

If I could do one thing for you, it would be to eliminate the pain that you feel, the pain that so blinds you to the truth. If I didn't know that the pain drives you, and that one day it will lead you to the truth, I would shelter you. I know how it is. Be assured, catling, all will be resolved in due course. There will be a time for you to know, and when that time comes I will be here for you.

I'm no longer so uncertain about you. I would not have traded this assignment for my true love back.

Cam read the note, wondering what it meant. It was intended for Marie, but Fortuna had given no indication that he wasn't to read it. He looked up from the paper, eying the gundam with a kind of pity. He had the feeling that it was from her. Fortuna's great hazel eyes looked strangely red, as if she was grieving.

Cam had always been one to accept things as they were, but dream of the future, which was uncertain. Treize had spoken of his daughter to him often, always with a wistful look in his eyes, but had often alluded to information that was killing him. He shivered, wondering what the man had known— and never had the chance to tell anyone else.

Of course, only Marie could talk to his ghost. She was still asleep, as she deserved this morning. He returned to her, laying the note gently on her nightstand, smiling as she, as was so rarely the case, slept peacefully.

**~~@[~*,~]@~~**

Heero stayed and brooded to himself for a long while, reading with interest the exchange between Zero and "Mother Source." So Zero was a pessimist . . . he _never_ would have guessed that. He chuckled dryly.

The cockpit door opened and Relena poked her head in. "Heero, we're going to leave now. Are you coming?"

Heero looked up, and knew she was trying hard to cheer him up. "I might as well."

"You okay, sweetheart?" She was concerned, he knew, and he supposed that she had a right to be.

"It's just . . . he's done such horrible things to them! I wanted so much for them to lead normal lives, Relena, and look what this damn war has done to our family! Shit, how can I do anything other than worry when Kik didn't even recognize me?" He shut Zero down and stood, hands still trembling in anger and shock.

"I know," she said quietly. "Don't you think I suffer too? The only thing we can do is keep looking, Heero. You know that."

"But there's something more," he admitted, taking his wife into his arms in apology. "I get the feeling that this all backtracks to me . . . and a history that is so shrouded in conspiracy that no one knows the truth."

"It wouldn't surprise me," she murmured, closing her eyes and leaning against him. This was so _draining_.

They packed Zero and Deathscythe back into the cargo compartment of the large shuttle, already checked out, and started off. They didn't get more than a few miles out, however, until a shuttle broadcasting an emergency signal came hurtling after them.

Duo answered the call, and his face was absolutely unreadable. "Quatre?" Their Arabian friend had been quite unexpected.

"I was afraid I was going to miss you guys." Quatre looked both relieved and concerned. "I have something for you, Heero, and I'd rather not talk about it over this connection. Can we connect airlocks for a minute?"

Heero assumed the controls (for he was better at the tricky maneuver), not arguing at all. It would cost them a few minutes, but Quatre looked very worried, and he knew the man did not exaggerate things.

The first thing Quatre did once aboard their shuttle was press a half-size CD in its case into Heero's hand. The label was smeared with what looked suspiciously like dried blood, but was otherwise unwritten on.

"I'll be brief," Quatre said as the others gathered curious to see what was so urgent. He looked like he was halfway into a guilt trip. "I was contacted by a woman named Cammie Exeter— I think it was a false name— who delivered that to me. Before she arrived at the Sanc Kingdom border she had been shot, and she died just a few minutes after she gave that to me. Nearly two dozen people have died for this information, she among them. She said it was for your eyes alone, but she said it will help solve some problems you've been facing, whatever that means. She said she's been trying to get in contact with you for years, but it never took. Whatever is on this disc has made some powerful enemies, Heero. I'm almost afraid for my own life now."

"Wait a second!" Duo peered at the tiny silver circle, eyes wide. "Who killed this girl?"

"I don't know. I just know she's dead, Duo, her and many others." Quatre studied all their faces. "I'll say right now that I don't like being a courier for deadly information, so I hope you appreciate this. I've got more than one death to sign papers for now, what with that woman I killed who was trying to assassinate your brother, Relena—"

"_What?_" Relena pushed her way past Sophie and Duo. "Someone tried to kill Milliardo?"

"I'm sure you'll hear all about it on the news."

"Boy, you're sure the messenger-boy, aren't you?" Sophie asked as Heero passed her in haste to plug the disc into his computer.

"Is there anything else?" Quatre asked wearily, rubbing his eyes.

"I hate to impose, but since you asked, could you take a message to my father?" Sophie asked.

"I suppose, if I can find time between my legal battles."

"Just tell him we're on track and he should be hearing from the lab soon."

"That's rather cryptic, but I'll tell him." Quatre made his way back to his ship. "I'll see you guys when you get back. Good luck."

"Thank you so much, Quat," Duo said, remembering how rarely the selfless man ever got thanks for his duties— and how bullet-ridden the gentile soul must have felt after seeing so much unnecessary death. "We'll be seeing you soon, I hope."

Quatre managed a smile. "You're very welcome. Bring those kids home safe, now."

**~~@[~*,~]@~~**

Ah, yes, it was all starting to fit together now. Heero stared at the screen with a kind of glee, going back and forth between the seven documents he now had. That CD had contained most of the missing bits and pieces.

_What dark and depressing times,_ he thought, _and how very conspiratorial things had been, as well_. Of course, Fortuna had been able to help him a great deal, but even she didn't know more than her part and Treize's desperate attempts at salvation. This . . . this had _everything_ anyone on Earth could ever have known. This was everything about the project— and the pitiful story of blackmail and petty competition started by his own master. Heero felt his disposition towards Dr. J turn as he read the _true_ story of the man's sadistic mind.

Oh, it had been clever, in production for so long. Everything went all the way back to the year Before Colony '04. As Heero read though it, he started to pity poor Marimaia. If she only knew _why_ she'd been subjected to such torture though Dekim, she'd probably feel much more at ease now.

_I should have had Wufei wait a month or so,_ he thought. _If I'd gotten this then . . ._

It would have sealed Beliv's fate.

**~~@[~*,~]@~~**

"What was she doing?" Milliardo demanded. "And where have you been?"

"I had to give something important to Heero," Quatre said, giving up on trying to be clever and evasive. "That's what she was doing."

"What was it?"

"Important information pertaining to his past and the back-story of— what he thinks— is Operation Meteor."

Milliardo grimaced, staring out his window. "Why didn't she just give it to me?"

"You never had a part in that whole escapade, remember _Shinobi_?"

Milliardo paused. "Ah."

"Besides that, I think it has some stuff that deals with Heero privately. That's what she hinted at, and I wasn't willing to discredit her."

"She died, Quatre. Of a gunshot wound. On my property. In your company. How do you think the media took that?"

"I'm sure it's been horrible in the three hours I've been gone," Quatre said sarcastically. He was in no mood for this. "And I've got hundreds of papers to sign and hundreds of accusations to nullify. As soon as the details are straight, the Sanc Kindom will look like a refuge from the rest of the world."

He knew it was Milliardo's tendency to be overly worried about things, and subsequently he was often unable to see past the current situation. As the King's advisor, Quatre had felt fitting for the job because he had the ability to do that.

"And then we'll get criminals," he said. Being paranoid was often required of a ruler, just in case. He stared off to the horizon, as Treize had often done when cooped up in offices. How inescapable that man was!

"Perhaps, but it's too late to turn back now in any case. But even if the Sanc Kingdom falls, Sire, I think we may have accomplished our purpose."

**~~@[~*,~]@~~**

"Ah, how beautiful is life," Cam said, wrapping his arms around Mariemaia as she emerged.

"Sometimes I wonder," she said, still a bit sleepy. The note, obviously enough from Fortuna, had been disquieting to say the least. She'd assumed Fortuna was a newer Gundam, built lately and given to her after the war began, but she'd indicated that she was ages older than even Tallgeese. _And_, she'd said there had been others. Boy, conspiracy ran thick about this thing.

"Coffee, love?" He was concerned over what effect that letter had taken on her, she guessed. It had been enlightening, perhaps . . . but spoke of a darker side to the universe.

"I think I'm sober enough as it is. Why did you let me sleep so long?"

"You looked like you needed it." Which may have been true enough.

"And why aren't you training? There are battles yet to come, you know." She winced. _She_ was one to talk.

"The sims are all booked up until later today. Everything's going so slow that I saw no need for you to wake, and Dennis told me to leave you alone."

She sighed and decided that it was probably better to just trust the judgement of her friends. It was easy to overestimate her limits sometimes. "Did you read that note?" she asked, feeling some apprehension. Fortuna was advocating _exactly_ what he had been trying to get her to do for a long time.

"Yeah, I did. It was kinda creepy, Marie. It actually sounds like these things aren't . . ." he trailed off into an embarrassed silence. After a moment, he tried again. "It sounds insane, but she'd leave you to believe that she isn't from our neighborhood, galaxywise."

She laughed, better at ease knowing that someone shared her suspicions. "I wouldn't be surprised if that were the case, frankly," she said. "She speaks about 'us humans' as if she was comparing us to someone else!"

"God . . . aliens . . ." Cam said, looking dreamy. "You know, as a boy I'd always wondered if something else was out there watching. I thought that maybe someone advanced beyond our comprehension would be disgusted with our savageness, but Fortuna treats us like two year-olds!"

"We're still in a stage of learning, like children," Marie told him. "We can't be expected to know everything about the universe when we don't have any way of discovering it."

"True," he admitted. "But I can't help but wonder how they survived when they were our age."

"What do you mean?" Cam had a look on concentration on his face, as if he was fighting the urge to insult something. Marie stroked his hand protectively, trying to encourage him.

"How could they have survived this technological adolescence without killing themselves?" he asked. "Sometimes it feels like we've doomed ourselves."

"I don't know," she replied softly. How true that was, in light of the disasters they now faced. "But we can't give up hope, or we _will_ doom ourselves."

He chuckled. "You're one to talk about hope, girl. You're preaching to the choir."

"Sometimes the choir needs inspiration," she replied softly, leaning against his shoulder. _How could I have lived before without someone to support me like this?_

And someone offered, _perhaps you weren't truly alive_.

**~~@[~*,~]@~~**

Without her even quite realizing it, two years had slipped by since this had all begun. Everything seemed so far gone, as if she had slipped from sanity.

Une stood quietly on the bridge of her warship. The lights were dim, and only a few crewers were there, working the skeleton night-shift, but otherwise it seemed deserted and dead. It was hard to remember, now, how she'd gotten through all this time without him. Once the war had ended, she'd had little time to grieve, but now everything was so reminiscent of him that it was hard to keep control sometimes, especially whenever she saw Mariemaia. Her hair was so much redder than his had been, but her face . . .

She tried to force the thought away and failed miserably. She'd lived these last dozen years in a trance, unable to fully be happy. She would never forget his gentile hands, his strong face and confident words, though inside he suffered like a burn victim. Knowing that he'd really loved her was her only saving grace these days. He'd never felt confident enough in her to tell her everything, something he must regret now, she knew. His death had been so unwarranted . . . so useless. If only Treize had lived . . . perhaps nothing would be so futile now.

She hadn't known half of what he had, and if she had she wouldn't be here now, wishing he were alive quite so badly. She knew who these people were who had send their greatest success to Earth, but she didn't know why. She knew they were more than what they seemed, but she couldn't get hold of one long enough to figure out how they worked the way they did. She almost screamed with frustration. These outsiders were such a threat, and she only had enough of the story to know how big of one, nothing to negate her suspicions at all!

The one side of her said to take care of them while they thought they were still weak, but the other half argued that they would obviously be much too strong to post even a realistic chance of human victory. The easiest way would probably to bring Treize back from the dead.

The comm station she stood by buzzed, and a tech ran forward to take the message. Messages, even from headquarters, were rare these days, now that Beliv had retreated far back into his little rat's nest. She'd only last been given instructions to be careful around his ships in case they were carrying Heero and Duo's children. Naturally, she'd been a little upset about the development, but at this rate she wouldn't have to worry about being careful. She'd gotten the feeling that the Counsel didn't give a rat's ass if the kids lived or died so as long as their reputation wasn't in danger. Of course, Heero would turn an accusation on them without batting an eyelash, so they had to protect themselves.

"I have an urgent message to the General," she heard the caller say, and she laid a hand on the tech's shoulder.

"I've got it," she said, than turned to the screen in surprise.

"It _has_ been a while, hasn't it old gel?" Broac Holdstein grinned widely, almost hiding his eyes entirely behind folds of fat.

"What occasion warrants this esteemed visit," she asked sarcastically. "Broac, you old scoundrel, what could possibly keep you up at this hour? She asked, knowing it must have been very late in Liverpool.

"Oh, you know, just called in for assurances that you were still sane, Lady." He chuckled to himself at a joke that she had never found particularly amusing.

"Don't fool around, Holdstein," she said gruffly. Being pulled from reminiscing was never the best time to catch her in a good mood.

"Then I'll get straight to the point, then, shall I?"

"I think you'd better," she'd threatened. She didn't know how he'd gotten through to her on this strictly military channel, but it must have been important. Broac, a private investor with a good fifty years under his ample belt, often had his hand in more information wells than Une considered possible. Despite his kindly-uncle appearance, Broac was sometimes ruthless and undiscerningly sharp.

"I suppose you've heard about the Yuy and Maxwell children, eh?"

"All too frequently. What have you?"

"I've gotten word that they've gone in search of them."

"Stop _hinting_, Broac, or I'll tear your throat out through the radio waves," she threatened.

"Well, if you're going to be that way . . . I'll say this: Word has it that they have more than we think they have, but not nearly enough. Word has it that _someone else_ is going to get to them kids first." He winked to accentuate his italicized words further.

"Is that it?" Of all the useless information . . .

"I can't help you outright. You know that."

Which was the unfortunate truth. He was breaking enough laws as it was. "I suppose. I'll log the information."

"Right-o."

The screen flickered off and Une found a scrap of paper. Although she didn't particularly consider Broac a "friend" (he had probably been pulling a dump of their computer during the entire conversation), it was useful to have him on your side sometimes. Now, she set to the task of eliminating suspects for that "someone else" he'd talked about.

**~~@[~*,~]@~~**

Phailin opened the door a moment after someone knocked, tucking a stray strand of hair out of the way. She wasn't feeling very in the mood for visitors, having recently been struck with a bout of nausea, but Chatalerm's urgent expression was so unexpected that she didn't raise an argument. She closed the door quickly behind her and leaned against a post on her porch.

"I'm sorry to disturb you at this hour, Phailin, but Jen woke me. You're the only one around here that speaks Chang fluently enough to know what she's asking for. She's hurt pretty bad, but she doesn't trust the doctors— not that I think she should after what happened. You might be able to understand. I just don't speak enough of the language . . ."

"All right, enough of that," she said gently. He was obviously worried about her, and even someone who had been less-than-decent to her in the past deserved some resolution. Besides, she hadn't known that he'd spoken _anything_ other than the village dialect. "Do you know how she's injured. I might be able to guess."

"She won't tell me. To tell the truth, I think she just wants to talk to you, since we can't move in until she's healed, and that will probably take months." It seemed to Phailin that he'd become much more humble since she'd been to the village last. Stories she'd heard indicated he'd left soon after she and Wu had been wed, perhaps spending a lot of time soul-searching. She felt a twinge of pity for him, but only that much. It was about time he'd grown up.

The streets were lit with candle-lanterns, something she'd missed dearly while in the city. The light was lower than it had been in the evening, as it was nearing the dawn. Phailin wondered briefly if Chatalerm had delayed until Phailin would have gotten enough sleep instead of rousing her when it had first become urgent. That might have accounted for his tension (and was certainly kinder of him than she remembered). If that had been the case, though, he had wasted his energy with concern. She'd been up since about two anyway.

Chatalerm's house was likewise candle-lit. From years of living with one, she knew Changs tended to prefer them for healing. She was lying surrounded by blankets and pillows, although she'd cast them off in the stuffy room, covered in a thin sheen of sweat. She certainly didn't look ill, though her slight body was covered with bruises and shallow wounds. Phailin could instantly tell she was especially weak, and had probably always been.

"_Youngling_," she said, and Jen's pretty dark eyes turned to her, projecting relief. "_I'm here. What do you need?_"

"_Thank the stars. This pain is intolerable!_" She replied, suppressing a groan.

Perhaps she'd assumed too much. "_Are you injured worse than I thought?_"

She smiled, though it was just a little upturn in the corners of her mouth. "_Thank you for your concern, but it's only my nerves that are singing, not my body. I can make myself a poultice and some sleep aid— I need it desperately!— but I have no knowledge of the herbs in this jungle. I know there are some common between Thailand and China, but . . ._"

Phailin searched her memory for the descriptions of the herbs. Wufei used almost all of them from time to time for his migraines, but you could find practically anything in Bangkok. "_I may have to forage, but I can get most of them around the village. My mother has large stores of some of those you mentioned. I've been away for a long time. I'll see what I can do._"

Chatalerm gave her a questioning look, somewhat distorted from worry.

"She'll be fine," she reassured him. "I don't think there's permanent damage at all, but it may be a while before she heals. I'll return as soon as I can."

To her pleasant surprise, she didn't have to wait to visit her mother's stores. Michael, now almost four, had been having nightmares and most of the lights in the house were on. Jason was sitting on the front steps, chin against his knees as he tried to catnap away from the racket. He waved his sister away with a yawn and told her to avoid their mother if at all possible. She wasn't in the best mood. Phailin crept carefully through the kitchen into the shed.

It was better than she'd expected. Phailin could find everything except the roots, but those were fairly plentiful in the jungle. She returned within the hour with everything Jen had asked for. The relief the girl showed was worth it, too. "_Thank you endlessly, Phailin._"

She was asked to stay and help prepare them. The recipes were fairly simple, but she couldn't help but marvel at how quickly Jen could remember them. All the while, the two women left alone spoke quietly. "So how did you make it all the way here?" Phailin asked. "My husband told me that few of your people survived the destruction of the colony." _And besides that, most of them are dead from threatening the government,_ she added silently.

She sighed with what Phailin assumed to be remorse. "I was a child at the time. There were a lot of people who opposed the idea, you know. I sneaked onto one of the ships and an older couple helped me get by until was old enough to work. I'm glad I ran, although my father was probably furious when he found out. I guess my brother always preached about how the old ways were dying and I agreed. He was never the most 'honorable' of us, I guess, but I always saw it as the most logical choice."

Phailin snorted. "Commit suicide to make an impression. That's always so successful. I had a friend who almost tried that. Funny, it was his daughter who convinced him to get off his soap box."

Jen agreed emphatically. "But my brother was killed, and I've felt lost ever since until Chatalerm found me."

Which brought up something interesting. "And how exactly did you two meet? You don't speak our language, and he doesn't speak any other to my knowledge."

"I take it you've known him for a long while."

"We used to be engaged." Phailin said, hoping Jen wouldn't want to discuss it further. She didn't want to be too unflattering to her fiancé when he seemed to have changed.

She smiled. "He was looking for someone to tutor him in our language, but you're wrong about him on one account. He knows a more southern dialect of Chinese that I also speak to some degree. I think he said his mother spoke it. I don't know why he wanted to learn Chang, but it's been working out. I got to know him better, and we started depending on each other for support. He talked about you a lot for a while, I remember, but I know all about arranged marriages and how well they tend to work out. I felt so sorry for him, though. Your husband hurt his pride— not that I think that was necessarily a bad thing. Our meeting was just on of those twists of fate. My brother always believed in things like that. It's been about a year, I think, and one of the happiest of my life. He wanted to come back here to get married, but he said it might be delayed now."

Phailin nodded. "Well, you certainly have my blessings. I've noticed a great change in him. I have the feeling you may have your wish sooner than you think."

They worked in silence for a moment, digesting the new information. Phailin thought of Wufei again, though the feeling of emptiness was less of a gaping hole now. She'd found someone to talk to, someone like him to some degree. 

"I heard _you_ married a Chang, Phailin. Did your husband go through the same treatment as I?" Jen asked.

Phailin felt her heart wrench. She didn't want to tell her that Wufei had been fully accepted, but circumstances had been so different. ". . . he was met with great skepticism," she said. "But he earned the villages trust. They'll come around to you, too, Jen, it's just that the last murder in this town before the elders' was my father, and he was killed by a Chang we gave shelter to. To make matters more complicated, my father was the king's brother. We had royal guards breathing down our necks for years, and I was sent off to Bangkok to be schooled under intense security. I lied to my husband a bit about that, but what was I supposed to say? There was no use in getting him upset when he really tried so hard to be likeable."

She considered. "Phailin, you said you know who murdered your grandfather. Do you think you have most of the people here convinced of that? Here— don't put too much of that in."

Phailin stopped herself at the warning and nodded. "I've convinced all those who would try and persecute you. There will still be some suspicion, but that's just being human. Since I'm technically now the village ruler, no one will dare defy me." She chuckled dryly. "Yes, that's irony for you."

She blinked, not seeing the relevance of the statement. "Irony?"

Phailin laughed again and closed her eyes, the memories flooding back. "Oh, it's just that I used to hate your people with a passion. I killed a lot of Changs before I met Wufei. I almost killed him, too. I was so _angry_ with you . . . but mostly I just hurt them. It's kill or be killed out there, you know."

She started at the name. "Wu Fei? Your husband?"

"Yes. Why, did you know him?" Phailin saw the surprise on her face and knew she'd guessed correctly.

"I thought he was dead," she whispered. "They told me he was dead."

"To your clan he is. He rejected your clan just after the war ended. I suppose being a woman, you wouldn't be involved in those affairs." Phailin took her arm, which was trembling. "Jen, don't strain yourself. Calm down."

"When— when is he coming back?" she demanded, the look on her face one of pain and anguish. "When?"

"I don't know. When his part in the war ends. I hope it's soon," she admitted. There was nothing more she wanted now than to be with him.

"But he will be here?" Jen's grip in her wrist tightened, surprising for one so weak.

"Of course." She wasn't even _willing_ to address the possibility of his dying. It just couldn't happen.

She squeezed her eyes shut and Phailin saw a tear roll down the girl's face. "I— I need to tell you something," she said.

Phailin thought of so many things the girl could possibly say about her husband that her mind almost shut down. "Tell me," she said, almost afraid to hear.

"I haven't seen him in twelve years. Tell me he's fine. My brother . . . I miss him terribly."

She was his sister. Phailin almost wept with relief. Then, and only then, did she realize that Jen probably had it worse than she did. Wufei hadn't talked of his childhood much, but he'd once mentioned his dearest sibling, a little sister almost too weak to walk. But she'd been eight when he'd left . . . no wonder she looked so young! "Oh, child," she whispered. "He's all right, I promise. Wu's become a great man, and a great husband. We're happy. Don't worry for him. You'll see him soon."

"I knew he was alive," she said with conviction. "There was no way he could have died. I knew he'd make out okay. I knew he'd find a new love. You have no idea how assured this makes me feel, sister."

Phailin drew her into a gentile hug. Perhaps she wouldn't be quite as lonely as she thought. So she and Chatalerm would be related after all!

When everything was ready, Jen took her first doses and started to drift off into sleep. Before she could fall fully, however, she held out a bundle of herbs she hadn't used for anything. "Here, Phailin, I think you can use these."

"What are they?" They were the ones she'd retrieved from the jungle. They didn't normally use the plant for anything, but perhaps Jen knew more about it than the village people did.

"Soak a few leaves in boiling water and drink them after meals."

"Tea?" They smelled very bitter for tea leaves.

"They'll help with your nausea, I should think."

_What?_ How had she known she hadn't been feeling well? "How . . . could you tell?"

"My mentor taught me well." She smiled gently. "Signs are subtle, but there. A trained eye spots them, especially one that's been taught since childhood. I hope you feel better."

"Thank you." Phailin felt just a little more respect for her. Despite her youth, she knew a great deal. But, as Wufei had said often enough, raised a Chang, you never really had a childhood.

"Oh, and sister?" She'd never had a sister.

"Yes?"

"They don't taste as bitter as they smell." Jen chuckled lazily before closing her eyes.

Preoccupied, Phailin missed Chatalerm perched beside the door. "How is she?"

She jumped, startled. "Oh, it's you. She's asleep, and she took quite a bit of that concoction we made. She probably won't be awake until well into the day or even possibly evening, and she'll be hungry. Feed her, as much as she asks— she'll be able to judge well enough, but make the food mild and easy to digest. No spices, plenty of plain rice, and definitely nothing my mother or yours will want to feed her! She'll need liquid, too. Keep a pitcher of water by her bed, and give her fruit juices. She'll need carbohydrates just as much as sugars; no milk, because that makes mucus thick . . ." She thought hard for something she could have missed. "I think that's about it. She's going to need someone around to help her move if she needs to, but try to keep her to bed and healing. She'll probably want to get around and move, but you have to keep her down or she might re-injure something. I'll be back tomorrow sometime, sooner if you need me. I've much free time now."

She thought briefly that Jen would probably be a good person to seek counsel for something like this. It was probably a good idea to get to know her sister in-law and give the pretty thing a little more information on she and Wufei's (mis)adventures.

The sun was finally starting to rise over the steamy jungle, and Phailin realized how much she'd missed the view. The dawn over Bangkok had its own urban beauty, but her soul was still in the jungle. That was why she tried hard to find some way to personify Shenlong. Everything had to have a soul

**~~@[~*,~]@~~**

+Connection Forced . . . Connection Confirmed+

::_AH, MY _LADY_, THE ONE PERSON I _SO_ LONGED TO TALK TO . . ._::

::DON'T BE IMPERTINENT, _DRAGONIS VIR_. YOU KNOW VERY WELL YOU'D RATHER BE WITH ANY OF THE OTHERS.::

::_ALL THE MORE WHEN YOU CALL ME THAT, ANCIENT ONE.::_

::THUS MY JUSTIFICATION::

::_DON'T GET SMART WITH ME_::

::OH, I DON'T BELIEVE I HAVE TO PROVE MY INTELLIGENCE HERE::

::_YOUR ASKING FOR TROUBLE_::

::I'M IN CHARGE AROUND HERE, LITTLE ONE. DON'T FORGET IT.::

**+Connection Terminated+ **

_Don't get cocky. You've never seen real war. You don't want to, trust me._

****************************************************

_Yuck, reading that I almost got lost myself. Everything's really vague right now, but I promise I'll elaborate more as time goes by._

Oh, and have you figured out who "Mother Source" is?

Actually, I still have a few pages to go for the next chapter, so maybe I'll elaborate on the conspiracy a bit more. Here's what I know_ is going on next:_

Okay, a few weeks pass and Heero & all the others make it to that lab, where they get some information (and try to act on it). The Phantom Runners get caught up in the Colony Alliance's new prototype cloaking shield, and Marie and Fortuna face the greatest mobile suit threat yet: Dorothy and Inimicus. Also, Heero explains a bit of history of Operation Comet (Operation Meteor was a branch of it). There's a lot more in that than I'm hinting at, so you won't want to miss **AC 208: The Hands of Fate (Part V):** **"Don't breathe."**


	5. Don't Breathe

_I love summer vacation. I'm practically turning out a chapter a day. Actually, I would have finished this last night if it weren't for Shaun (Yes, I spelled it right). I probably shouldn't say anything too much, but goddamn I wish I were a few years older._

So I'm sitting in my little (cleaned, finally) refuge in the corner listening to Bringing Down the Horse. Not the best album if you want something upbeat, but great for an angst fic. Plus, I had to try out my new headphones, right? They're those ones by Sony that have the thing that goes around your neck instead of over your head. They're the best headphones I've ever owned, man. New CD player too (but I broke my old one so I'm still kinda a little sad about that. I got insurance on this one from Best Buy. Great deal for 8 bucks. Emptied my wallet, though).

Grr . . . I hate it when my brother tears up books. It was mine _too. He tore up the dust jacket of Harry Potter IV. I almost made him pay for it. Sorry, I get a little anal about the shape of my books. If it weren't for them I'd probably have gone insane. *Ah, escape!* kinda thing, I guess._

I haven't slept for 72 hours now . . . and I'm still not tired. Honestyly. I can't thinks of when I'mve been less tire. (That's really what I look like when I don't correct all my typos. Thank god for grammatic and spell check.)

I think that maybe I should get on to the fic now. 

**AC 208: The Search for Truth (Part V)**

****

"Don't breathe"

It had been three weeks, and Heero had certainly been edgy. He'd had two more attacks like the one he'd had at the hotel, and it was beginning to make all of them nervous. Relena had guessed things would not be pretty, but even Heero's overprotectiveness wasn't usually that strong. He had flatly refused to tell her exactly what he'd seen (on the basis that it would just scare them) but his behavior was just as frightening. Finally, they'd made it to the "lab" on colony X-30849, but he was feigning no relief whatsoever.

"Heero, I think we should just wait until someone shows up . . ." Relena knew there was no point in arguing, but she still had to try.

Heero shook his head. "We don't even know that there was supposed to be anyone here to receive us. Don't be dense."

He normally wouldn't have said that, and the accusation betrayed his anxiety. She couldn't tell if he was nervous about having his blood drawn or if he just was anticipating a quick match for Akiko and Raina.

"Heero, she's right," Duo protested, but Heero wasn't listening. With none too scant a glance backward, he went through the door, into the hall behind the reception desk.

"I suppose we should follow him," Duo muttered, and started after. They'd already lost Heero behind a corner, and the small man was walking extremely fast to compensate for his nervousness. Duo looked back and forth, trying to peer through the windows in the doors, and then heard someone cry out in surprise.

They found Heero apologizing profusely, and making inquiries about where to seek out a Doctor Shyla McMillin.

"I'm her," the white-coated young woman said. Frizzled hair and big glasses made her look much more startled than she already was. "Can I help you, sir?"

"Uhh, we had an appointment with you," Heero said, as if she should have recognized him on sight.

"He's Heero Yuy, and I'm Duo Maxwell," Duo supplied when she gave him an even more confused look.

Realization dawned. "Oh, I'm sorry! I completely forgot you were coming today. Our secretary's gone today and I was going to come get you . . . I just totally lost track of the time. I'm terribly sorry. And you must be Mrs. Maxwell, David's daughter."

She at once noticed Sophie instead of Relena, who felt a little bit surprised that the other woman would be foremost in Shyla McMillin's mind.

They were led into a small room full of humming machines and lab equipment, painted a sterile white. Heero was not the least bit unnerved by the machines, but he clutched at his arm protectively, nervous about having his blood drawn. He had to look away as they did it. Ms. McMillin asked what had happened to the arm he'd scratched up in Zero, but he declined to answer.

"It's nothing, I do that all the time. I'm fine."

"All right," she replied, obviously suspicious.

It was quite amazing that they could see the results of the genetic sequencing in just moments after the blood was processed. The computer even displayed 3D models for them to look at, but only Heero and Duo knew what everything meant. Heero knew his own genetics by heart, but the lab wasn't ready to accept _that_ on faith.

They waited several hours until Shyla came to get them from their courtesy rooms. Relena felt guilty about waking her husband up, but she knew she'd face a great deal of anger and disappointment was she not to do so. He looked so peaceful, finally unconscious and taking a needed break from the world. She'd held his head in her lap gently, feeling relieved that he wasn't going to collapse from exhaustion.

"I did find a lot," she told them all quietly at her computer. The room was dim and most of the other scientists had gone home. "And some of it isn't very pleasant, as you suspected. There have been regular reports logged with a large human-studies laboratory on an L6 colony, and in recent weeks the reports have not been sent by an outside source. Unfortunately, I can only tell you where your children are, not how you can get them back. I can offer, however, that this colony, X-63920 is very close to the border, and I wouldn't be surprised if we get that territory back soon."

They paid the bills— leaving them feeling _very _light in the pockets and heavy in the heart— and left with a thank you. The information packed into a file folder for them to take offered hope, but they were still dissatisfied. When they reached a secure place, Heero and Duo started planning for a raid.

Relena and Sophie distracted themselves by pulling into their own little corner to discuss things. Sophie was first to speak, watching the men with worried dark eyes. "Relena, what's been happening to your husband lately? Is he ill?"

Relena shook her head. "I don't know. He claims he's having visions of the children, but I can't give up the notion that maybe he really is. He says Akiko's not dying, but she's being tortured and she doesn't know us anymore. I think maybe her mind's been wiped the way her father's was."

"Oh," she said. She was twisting her ring, and Relena knew she wasn't saying all she felt.

"Hon, are _you_ all right?"

She bit her lip. "I'm worried. Vince's so young. Dear God, he's just a baby! Most if not all of these people have never dealt with infants before!"

"He's over a year old now," Relena comforted her. "He'll be able to do some things, especially if he's developing the way our Kik did, and Heero said he heard them crying the first time he was in contact with our daughter. I think they're still all together, at least. He'll have my daughters for comfort."

"I hope you're right," Sophie said.

They sat in silence for a moment, watching their husbands plan. Relena even smiled a bit, now that Heero had something _hopeful_ to chain his mind to.

"But," Sophie whispered almost too softly for the other to hear, "it still feels like we might lose them if we breathe too much."

"I know the feeling," Relena replied. "But I've found in the recent years that some things aren't as delicate as they seem. A spider web's stronger than steel cables if you take in relation their sizes. Frankly, it's a miracle that Earth's still around after the punishment it's taken from us and Mother Nature."

"For sure."

Heero and Duo broke off, both of them looking a little more at ease. Even just planning helps take the stress away. At least you have hope. Relena sank into his arms feeling as though she'd need every ounce of his strength to get through, and he hers.

"It's so wonderful not to be alone," she told him.

**~~@[~*,~]@~~**

"Battle alert, sound the alarm!" Mariemaia was still tugging on her commander's jacket when she sped onto the bridge, Cam following.

"Ma'am!"

Fighters were being scrambled as they spoke, most of the pilots having sensed the impending skirmish. It was a fleet of several satellite-class carrier ships, easily enough for the Phantom Runners to handle. They were in enemy territory, though, and had the disadvantage of not being able to flee, but hopefully they wouldn't need that option.

"I need three squads at coordinate 3530-029!" Mariemaia shouted. "Somebody get over there!" Oh hell. What was she doing up on the bridge at any rate? "Dennis, take over here, will you? You've got better foresight than I have. I'm going out."

"Marie!" Ben made a wild snatch for her arm. "You _can't_! You're too important for us to lose out there!"

"Fortuna's not going to let me die. You know I can't stand being up here when there's action out there," she countered, not pausing.

Fortuna seemed to have already sensed the tension and was ready to go. Delicate dark green hands snatched her up and into the cockpit. ::_We've not a moment to spare,_:: she said. ::_I can feel something dangerous out there, and we'll be needed._::

And in the meantime, their Thermal Shurikan helped eliminate a lot of the maybe's. Marie dodged from fight to fight, too fast for most of the enemies and even her own men. Two Kirins got caught back-to-back surrounded by a sphere of Drakes— she barely made it. Fortuna's wings flapped madly against the emptiness of space but the unexplained detonation of one of their suits distracted them to the point of giving Marie the extra seconds she needed.

"About time," Cam panted, taking his leave to go report damage.

"Yeah sorry, my engines are only like a hundred times more powerful than yours," she replied sharply, shooting away to go save someone else.

That's when the _Gayla _landed almost on top of her. She recognized the misshapen craft at once. It was the only one she knew to be compiled of three different _Planet-_class model Destroyers, and it always seemed to look like it was falling apart from the inside.

"Marie!"

"I'm okay, I'm okay," she assured Dennis. "Just a little surprised. Have they seen me?"

"No, but how did they get here?" he asked. "They just came out of nowhere!"

Fortuna was locked into the fleet's main channel, in case they got an announcement for surrender (not likely). She heard a laugh and saw Erik Beliv's despicable face on the open channel. "How do you like my new cloaking device, Phantom Runners? I supposed you'd try and stop this supply run, so I figured I'd try it out."

"Bastard," Mariemaia said, sliding her beam saber out of its arm sheath. "I'll trash your piece of junk then, too!" With a furious cry she ignited the beam and drove it home, through the hull of the _Gayla_ and into the engines above her. Fortuna's screens darkened protectively as they were temporarily surrounded by flames, but then the released atmosphere was gone and with a yelp of strained and burned armor Fortuna withdrew as fast as her engines would take her.

She saw on her screen the ship shudder and jerk to port, officers tumbling over railings and slamming against their consoles. The tech running the comm shouted in pain as his arm was crushed between his own body and the equipment. "Get them!" she heard Beliv shout above the groaning of injured bridge crewmembers.

Encouraged by their leader's first move, several of her peers took up the cry and rushed for the ship, only to be met with squads upon squads of Amphitere. Marie cursed. There was no way her fleet was big enough to tangle with an entire battleship's squadrons alone. "Wasn't he supposed to be at the border?" She asked angrily, watching green blips disappear from her radar at an alarming rate.

::_There was a meeting held last week in the L6 colony cluster,_:: Fortuna said. ::_I thought you knew that._::

"I forgot. Thanks for the forewarning, though. If I hadn't left the bridge when I did we'd have been really hurting out here."

::_As always, you are most dutifully welcome._::

Mariemaia gunned the engines and sped for the _Gayla_ again, dodging and cutting at the mainline defenses as she encountered them. Fortuna was too fast to be threatened by the mobile suits, but they came in _swarms._ She got two or three good solid slashes in before Wufei showed up, and Fortuna wasn't at all happy about having Shenlong there. "He's not here trying to _show off_, you idiot!" Marie screamed. "Not stop distracting me and let me do my work!"

But Fortuna's unease was causing the gundam's performance to slow and weaken. Marie cursed at whoever had come up with the concept of rivalry. She could no doubt do much more damage than Wufei could, but not if Fortuna couldn't focus. She swore and beat towards the bridge of the Gayla, dodging ship-mounted lasers and guards.

She never made it. With a jolt that stole the air from her lungs, Marie was thrown backwards and away from the _Gayla_. There was a sharp laugh on the open channel, followed by the appearance of a familiar face. Mariemaia hissed involuntarily— just as Fortuna did. "_Dorothy._"

::Inimicus.::

She'd never seen the mobile suit before, but it did bear an uncanny resemblance to Fortuna. It was extremely slender and bloodred, with long angular back-mounted engines like Tallgeese's, which branched strangely fin-like projections where Fortuna had feathered wings. She carried a beam saber and a small-size version of Zero's buster rifle, which she tried to fire the second their names had been spoken.

"Like my suit?" sang the obviously excited warmonger. "We just got it. Isn't she wonderful? You'd almost think they were alive."

Dorothy would have not said "almost" if she'd known the real truth. The woman had always loved to brag. She scowled at the blonde and broke the connection. "What do you know of them?" she asked Fortuna urgently.

::_Inimicus is a later creation built on my design. She is extremely dangerous. I advise that we try to escape._::

Mariemaia grimaced. That was exactly what she'd feared. "But with those engines, we won't be able to run."

::_There is obviously an amateur pilot, or we would be fighting right now. She hasn't even got the rifle charged up properly. We might be able to outmaneuver them._::

"That leaves me in a situation I frankly don't want to deal with if we can't run. She might try and go for others in my fleet if we can, and they'll be easy prey," Marie pointed out. "The Phantom Runners will have to retreat."

::_Agreed._::

Marie gave the call over the fleet's channel and was met with mounted protests.

"Marie, we can't _leave_ you!" Cam was on the bridge, arm in a sling. "You're our leader."

"Don't assume I'm condemning myself. If I manage to get away I'll send a beacon. If I don't you guys are going to be decimated and every one of you will be dead or captured. Just GO!" With her final words ringing in the ears of all the officers, she snapped around and fled to the outer rim of the battle, tempting Dorothy to follow.

Inimicus lit her own engines, but Dorothy's reflexes were nowhere near Mariemaia's own. She could twist and turn a lot faster than the other, though she could never outrun her.

With a quick dive-and-turn move, she got that dangerous buster rifle off Inimicus's shoulder. Dorothy spent precious seconds trying to get it back, and Marie took advantage of the mistake to get away.

Actually, she reflected, Dorothy probably should have owed her for it. Seconds after she knocked it away, the improperly charged weapon exploded. If it had done so on her shoulder, it could have caused serious damage to the suit.

But those damn engines were just too fast. Marie wasn't even close to being out of sensor range when she caught up to them. For a brief moment, Inimicus seemed to assume control over her pilot— and that was all she'd needed.

**~~@[~*,~]@~~**

The scene was a familiar one, and Beliv chuckled faintly. Mariemaia was putting up a terrific fight down on the lower level. She was an amazon beauty if there ever was one, strong and supple with a fire about her that refused to die down. She kicked at one of the less bright officers, catching him in the stomach. Beliv knew he'd be in Sickbay for a while.

"My, my, a feisty one," he said. "We'll have to keep you in chains."

She curled her lip and glared, knocking at an officer behind her without a glance. "Don't even try it, or you know you won't ever see all of yourself again. And that _would_ be a shame, wouldn't it you pervert?"

"I'll have to watch myself," he said pleasantly, inwardly laughing. He held out his hand to signal Captain Ingriham to bring the other prisoner in. "But now the issue arises as to what to do with you. I must say your men fled fast, as you ordered, but some of them were so _loyal_ that they couldn't leave you behind."

With a rough shove, they sent the boy sprawling into the railing. Mariemaia's face held still, locking everything in, and Beliv knew he'd judged correctly.

"He was acting quite unorthodox, yelling about love's virtue, rather distracting I thought. So we took him in and found that he has personal significance. I tell you what, rebel. Continue to resist and, well—"

Both his guards dug their rifles into his back, and the boy's eyes widened.

"You evil sonofabitch. He has nothing to do with this. Let him go." Mariemaia's fingernails bit into her palms, and her jaw clenched so tight that she almost couldn't get the words out.

Beliv held up a finger, eyes twinkling in maniacal glee. "On the contrary, my dear. He's killed soldiers from this army, committed crimes against us. He has every right to die a disgraceful death. Now, will you go quietly or can I kill him?"

Cam bit his lip and squeezed his eyes shut, lifting his chin in a classic martyr's pose. "You keep fighting, love," he said. "Even if it means I'm gone. I know I'd do it, and I'm here. You get out and save the world honey."

Her hands dropped. "I can't."

His eyes shot open again, this time narrowing with impatience. "I said get out of here!"

"Cam, I have no chance," she sobbed. "I could never get out of here. I'm not willing to see you die over nothing. I don't have a choice. Don't be stupid, please."

Two guards rushed forward and held her arms roughly behind her back, and she looked up at him with heartbreaking disparity. "I love you, sweetheart," he told her. "Promise me you'll get out."

"I promise I'll try."

Beliv watched the overly dramatic scene with a kind of impatient amusement. As they hauled the Khushrenada girl out, he held him own gun to Cam's head. "But I never told her I'd let you live in any case," he said wickedly.

The gunshot echoed out into the hall, and Marie struggled against her captors again with a strangled cry. "No! God, no! You bastard, you BASTARD!"

He couldn't be dead, he just couldn't! She wasn't even aware that she was struggling any more, her brain was numb with shock and disbelief. It was in slow motion that she broke free, and the handcuff chain snapped under her strength, and it felt horribly like she couldn't breathe. The guard did the only thing he'd been trained how to do with an escaping prisoner. The impact of the bullet felt familiar, but this time the sharpness hit her from behind, narrowly missing her spine she knew because she didn't collapse right away. She didn't, however, make it more than a few steps.

All of a sudden, it didn't matter that the Phantom Runners had lost their leader, or that Trowa had lost his niece and her father would be getting her back. Cam was dead, and she was going to follow. If only . . . if only she could see him one last time. She crawled as far as she dared, the pain in her abdomen nothing compared to the pain in her heart. She reached for him, but the hall was so long and it seemed to stretch with every grasping inch she took.

There was a light, blindingly bright, beautiful and beckoning. She stared with half wonder and half relief. They'd take her, and they'd set her free. She could die in love, just like Fortuna had wished so many times for her lonely soul. The gundam was still in the back of her mind, begging her to hold on, to come back. She wondered if she would take part of Fortuna with her into death.

The one thing she had expected didn't happen. Her father's ghost was nowhere to be found, as if he'd finally abandoned her and left her in peace. She would never have to deal with him again . . .

There Cam was, reaching out to her, his shadow cast down upon her. He was calling her name, and his voice was so sweet. Her breath was running out. She couldn't resist.

**~~@[~*,~]@~~**

Subject 00 awoke suddenly, heart pounding in her ears. There was something wrong. Everything had gone silent. She gathered the two babes in her arms and went to investigate. Her door was open.

They had been moving her again, after the big wooly man had argued with the woman in the white coat. They'd be returning, she suspected, especially if something were to happen in this strange aura. There had been a scuffle earlier. She'd heard a young female shouting, and several gunshots. Now everything seemed so _dead._

Everything seemed to be frozen, and there was a bright light at the end of the hall. There were two guards, oddly still, not breathing but in a position of pursuit, about to shout. One was leaning to the side like a badly sculpted statue, favoring a broken ankle. A bullet shell lay unmoving on the ground, and even the air seemed to be resisting being pulled from its position.

There was blood on the floor, but she didn't notice it until she felt the moistness beneath her bare feet. There was a great deal of blood, but no one there. Curious, she took steps closer to the light.

There were shadows, all she could make out in the light. Some were moving; most were not. Those who were didn't look like people that should have been on the ship. She clutched the babies closer to her. They were heavy, almost too heavy for her to carry anymore, but both sleeping unawares.

She turned with a small cry when someone touched her shoulder. The hand was cool and soft, but strange and wrong. No one had been so comforting here. The woman smiled at her gently. "There you three are. You left your rooms before I caught you."

She stared at her in a kind of wonder. Then, a thought stirred in the back of her head. "Are you here to— to rescue me?"

She was met with the same kindly, slightly pitying expression and soft, cool hands on her shoulders. "You might call it that, little one. You've been hurt badly, haven't you?"

She nodded, deciding to trust her. If she were half as evil as the stormcloud man had been, it would be a tremendous relief.

The woman knelt down and brushed her dirty cheek. "We'll help you," she said, offering to take one of the taxing littles. She took the dark-haired one, the boy. "We'll take you with us," she said comfortingly.

Something nagged at the back of her mind, as if someone was trying to probe her again. She pushed him out angrily. _You can't hurt me anymore_. Without a backward glance, discarding her given number as she left, Subject 00 followed into the light.

**~~@[~*,~]@~~**

"Argh!" Heero clutched at his forehead all of a sudden, and Relena clasped onto his shoulders, offering as much support as she could. He hadn't had another lapse like this for quite a few days, and she had almost convinced herself it was over.

It only lasted a minute or so, and then it was gone with no trace. She waited patently, used to them by now.

"They're not on the colony anymore," Heero said. Beliv had taken them back on board his ship, but now I can't figure out where they are at all. There was a light . . . and people that looked strange, almost not human . . ."

"What do you think it means?" Duo asked.

"I wasn't there for very long. She keeps pushing me out, but it's not supposed to be impressionistic. What I saw was exactly what Akiko saw. It just doesn't make much sense." Heero leaned gratefully against his wife. The visions he kept having were draining.

Unfortunately, he couldn't allow himself to feel exhausted. Everyone had come here for a certain thing, and he had to provide it. No sooner had he though it than Duo insisted. "C'mon, man. You said you were gonna tell us something about a conspiracy."

"Yes, I was," he agreed. "And it's a long story."

"Oh man, not another 'legend of thingymabob' storyteller mood," Duo groaned.

"Hush," Sophie said, noting Heero's less-than-happy reaction. "Why does it matter?"

"It doesn't," Relena said. "He's a man. He just likes to complain."

Heero ignored them and started to tell the story. "This is my interpretation, but I don't think I'm far off from the actual events."

**~~@[~*,~]@~~**

It all began a quarter of a millennia ago, in Before Colony 43. On Earth, plans were being made to colonize outside space. Many were opposed, but some people became obsessed with the idea. There were great moral issues involved that have long since faded into background noise, because the weak parties were overruled and we've grown accustomed to ignoring them. The leader of the Pioneer Project, claiming to believe in manifest destiny, was a man named James Barton, an excessively wealthy man with a name that has become infamous. The history books praise Barton for his vision, but most historians don't know _why_ he wanted to grab a hold of space so bad.

Operation Comet was founded secretly nearly fifty years later, as Barton and his scientist friends gained hold of colony politics. The plan was to separate mankind from Earth, permanently. James Barton knew that one day the sun would go and if mankind did not become detached to its home, we would die out. His worries are literally billions of years in the future, but James was very evangelistic and believed that God was going to try and destroy us much sooner than that. There were only three colonies being built, but there were already great battles over ownership, citizenship and internal government. The system we had up until very recently when the colonies declared their independence from Earth's support wasn't established until nearly fifty years later, when the descendants of our dear friends set a secret plan into place. What the original plan was is lost in the sands of time, but it is agreed that something disrupted it.

Operation Meteor became the only surviving branch of the original plan after that something went wrong. By then, nearly a hundred years after the men had first met over the matter, ancestral ties were beginning to weaken and the people split into factions. The only faction that remained in support of Operation Meteor (a radically different version than we know) was a young and impetuous Dekim Barton. Dekim had bad blood between himself and the people of Earth, as he was the only one of his former comrades who was born in space. He grew to hate Earth people with a passion, and he shrouded himself in the utmost secrecy.

In the year AC 168, Dekim— a mere twenty years young— and his five scientists found something interesting. They dropped out of existence for almost a year, and returned extremely "enlightened" by their own description. No one knows where they'd gone, and some had a sneaking suspicion that they had invited an outside source into human affairs, something Heero knew happened from testimony from several different sources of his own. There was a lull in their activity for two years until Dekim's son and daughter were born. Nothing— nothing at all— is known about their mother. The plan was put into motion then.

With aid form those outside sources, the five scientists began work on designing mobile suits of great dexterity and power. Tallgeese was the first result, but the mobile suit differed from its intended design. As it is difficult to determine if an infant will grow up to be an evil person, Tallgeese was not a desired result, intent too much on the mission. They locked it up in storage, as one would do to a dangerous criminal, where it was discovered many years later.

There were other models much more successful than Tallgeese, which earned the approval of Barton's organization. The approval included those of four models, which had been given to Barton: four Gundams by the names of Fortuna, Inicimus, Epyon and Penna Nulles. They had been send to keep and eye on the scientists and Barton, because the outsiders were suspicious that Dekim had not told them all that he was planning. They were absolutely right.

None of the prototypes survived for very long, however. There was something unstable about them. The failures weighed on the scientists, all of which were beginning to have second thoughts. Finally, the four left, intent on staying out of the evil plan. One remained behind in support of Barton, the one known as Dr. J. He worked in private and produced the first successful human-built gundam, named Wing after the original gundam from whom he took the design. That was in AC 179. Only a few weeks later, Barton made the mistake of gloating about Wing to the colony representative Heero Yuy, who became concerned. Deciding that Yuy knew too much, Dekim sent assassins. We all know how that ended.

A year later, our hero was born to Masao Yuy, nephew to the murdered Heero. Masao, too, had taken up the crusade against Dekim, but Dr. J stopped his comrade from taking any extreme actions that might draw attention. There was a dilemma about piloting Wing, since Operation Meteor was supposed to be a conspiracy. Barton exacted his threat on Masao by taking his infant son and training him up as a pilot. Young Heero, who didn't even have a name until he was presented with one for the execution of Operation Meteor, was raised in a laboratory, continuously undergoing rigorous testing and harsh drug and gene therapy until he was deemed a "perfect soldier."

A year and a half to the day before the project was going to be put into motion, three other scientists discovered the horrific plan and began developing their own mobile suits. No one is quite sure why all of them suddenly succeeded. Deathscythe, Sandrock and Shenlong all needed pilots and the call went out. They scouted across their own sectors and observed potential candidates. When the selections were made, all ties to their home were cut, and they pilots Duo Maxwell, Quatre Raberba Winner and Chang Wufei were skillfully persuaded to pilot, under the idea that it was their own feelings guiding them to carry out the Operation. A carefully planned assassination of Trowa Barton was staged and the skilled mechanic was guilt-driven into becoming Heavyarms' pilot. The problem was that none of the other pilots knew of the other, so no one was sure who they were supposed to be targeting (Heero). Because of this, the pilots decided to all be on the same side, defying orders.

This is where we backtrack a bit. While Heero was being raised in the L1 colony cluster, a young, mischievous Treize Khushrenada, newly graduated and in the army, met Dekim's daughter in the L3 colony cluster where she and her brother were being schooled (and Trowa was being likewise undergoing Heero's training). The young couple, exploring new freedoms, made a mistake, which is from what Mariemaia resulted. Young Ms. Barton didn't want the baby and agreed to have the child and let Trieze assume responsibility for her, which he desperately wanted. But on an unscheduled check-up on his son's progress, Dekim discovered the promiscuity of his daughter and scared a young and uneasy Treize away from his impending granddaughter. During the years before Operation Meteor was put into motion and before Trowa's strategic murder, Dekim slowly poisoned his own daughter so that he was Marimaia's sole proprietor at her death, and subsequently eliminated the conspiring between her and Treize to pass the girl into her father's rightful possession. Dekim knew he'd been betrayed, and trained Mariemaia to be his saving grace. If he couldn't destroy Earth, he could rule it.

Treize, of course, wasn't buying it. He'd been raised as an aristocrat his entire life and he knew there was something seriously wrong. In his several attempts to gain his daughter back, he stumbled across the original gundams. He asked their aid, and discovered what had long been forgotten and had lost Dekim's guard. He was able to uncover all the information on the original Gundams. He could do nothing until Operation Meteor was put into effect, but once he did he used all his power to manipulate the pilots.

He succeeded to some extent. Treize founded OZ to counter the Gundams and take control of the colonies that were otherwise Dekim's playthings. When he stepped down from the council, he was able to persuade the pilots on a private investor's level and leave a desperately in-love Lady Une upholding his ideals within OZ. He also hoped with his almost-disappearance that Zechs Marquise would give up on Tallgeese. His best friend's falling out had been devastating beyond what he was willing to admit, but Treize knew Tallgeese was the symbol of all that was ultimately wrong with humanity. With his privacy, he contacted Heero Yuy and show him the conspiracy behind the past he so conveniently didn't know. Epyon, however, held a great grudge against the human-built Gundams and turned evil on the boy, which in turn actually helped him regain some of his lost morality. Heero did, little by little, come to understand that his creator was not the kindly man he'd seemed, and Dekim was by no means his friend. Epyon was destroyed beyond reclamation, eliminating any chance at helping resolve Dekim's plot.

In a twist of fate, Dr. J grew distant from Dekim in the time when he was working with his former colleagues within OZ. When Dr. J realized that Barton was intent to destroy every last shred of humanity, he agreed to help dismantle Operation Meteor. The five scientists died to save humanity, and with the redeemed soldier's help it worked.

The three original gundams divided to oversee the return of peace and the destruction of the human mobile suit gundams. Fortuna kept a careful eye on Earth from a distant post, the whereabouts of which are still in dispute. Inimicus disappeared altogether. It is assumed that she returned to her creators. Penna Nulles agreed to accompany the gundams most of the way to the Sun, but was partially destroyed on Christmas Day of AC 196.

Untold, the conclusion to the morbid tale rested safely in Heero's mind. The others would only be uneasy burdening such information. _Fortuna returned when Shinobi summoned her to aid Mariemaia's just cause when it was evident Earth and humanity needed aid. Inimicus was summoned by another contact from the human colonies, and was presumably in the hands of Erik Beliv. Penna Nulles . . . Nulles was repaired in AC 205 and is currently in the possession of one, Heero Yuy._

A problem remained, a deadly one. Only Treize, said Fortuna, knew why the universe was threatened by these human wars. And he was dead.

**~~@[~*,~]@~~**

There was a silence in the room that had been unequaled. Nothing moved even outside. No cars drove past, and no one snored next door. Even outer space was never as silent as Heero's disbelieving friends. If someone breathed, it would collapse like a house of cards.

"Incredible," Duo sputtered, only then realizing his mouth had fallen open. "Wow."

Relena was staring at her hands with a shocked expression. She'd been involved in her adoptive father's politics as far as she could remember, and she couldn't fathom how something so large as _that_ could have been hidden. She looked up, startled, when Heero put his arm around her. "How do you deal with knowing all that?" She asked him, regarding her husband with a newfound respect. He'd been able to piece that together all by himself.

"I've dedicated my life to it," he replied simply.

"But where does Beliv tie into this?" Duo asked, bewildered.

Heero nodded to himself. Duo was sharper than he gave him credit for. "That's the one thing that I can't figure out. All I know is that the gundams are afraid."

"And if the gundams are afraid, I'm really damn scared," Duo said, shuddering.

*******************************************

_And if you think the plot's done there, you're way wrong! I've got nine more chapters of this dog before she's done, and even then I don't know that I'm going to fit everything in!_

Next time we get to hear a speech by Heero about how much he loves his kids. It's really sappy, but most parents probably wouldn't say too much different. And what's this-- Duo and Sophie fighting_? The happy little couple apparently isn't so happy. You get to find out which gundam has been hiding things. Fortuna has a little heart-to-heart with someone and you get to find out exactly where Akiko, Raina, Vincent and Mariemaia went. Next, in _**AC 208: The Search for Truth (Part VI): "Hope Doesn't Die Easy"**


	6. Hope Doesn't Die Easy

__

Hey guys, sorry it's been so long! I've been busy doing stuff *(Got caught up in RPGing)* so I haven't really had time to finish chapter VII. FFN's being a pisser to me right now-- am I alone? I'll be at my cousin's in Reno until July 7 (Sunday) but I'll still be able to get emals, so please don't make me lonely! I'm going to try to work on my fic there (I'll probably be mostly editing my old chapters and finishing up AC 207's Chapter 15) but I don't know how much time I'll have on the computer there ^_^; Well, regardless I'll try. Thanks to all my loyal fans out there! 

**AC 208: The Search for Truth (Part VI) **

"Hope Doesn't Die Easy"

Relena reached up and tried to straighten her husband's hair, but whatever she did it just fell back into its original shape. Heero smiled, rolled his eyes and caught her wrist gently. "Haven't you learned yet? That doesn't work." he asked playfully.

"Oh, and what does?" She met his stormy blue eyes, wondering again how they seemed to hold all that he knew right there. It made him seem so very sorrowful.

"Nothing." He kissed her forehead and put his arms around her. "You know, there is one advantage to not having the children around," he said.

"We get more alone-time," she replied, spoiling his joke. "But isn't every moment laden with sorrow and grief?"

"We'll have them back soon, Saiai." It wasn't a guess. "They're getting closer with every word we speak."

"Hey, you two, time to get this show on the road!" Duo shouted, Sophie following and looking a little embarrassed for interrupting. She was so quiet you'd miss her, and Relena wondered if things between the couple weren't more strained than either of them was letting on.

Heero sighed and let his wife go, casting Duo a slightly irritated look. The speech could wait as long as he was going to take.

This trip was a bit more informal. Shyla had told them to expect only a few supporters here (they still had a big debt to the lab for everything) because it was mostly factory workers and industrial technicians, very few of whom had families or were even married. He was still willing to ask, though.

He stepped up to the podium, brushing his hair form is face (it stayed out of his eyes) and surveying the people. They were men and women who lived hard lives, but not unhappy ones. They were busy, is all, but hundreds of them were still willing tocome and watch, and he had the feeling that it wasn't just because he was famous.

"How many of you have children?" he asked, looking out into the crowd. There were a few timidly raised hands.

"I suppose you all know _why_ I'm here," he continued. They were a quiet crowd, intent on listening. That was good. "My children mean everything to me. I wouldn't give them up for anything. They're so beautiful, my two little daughters, mine and Relena's. I lost them Christmas Eve, lost them to someone so cruel as to deprive a family of their pride and joy. Duo and Sophilia Maxwell lost their son.

"I've often asked myself why, when Erik Beliv is after my wife and I, would he target my children? I've arrived at many conclusions over these last two months, many of which I wish I'd never have imagined in the first place. I was taken from my own parents the way our children have been taken to us. I now know how it feels on both ends, and the pain is almost too much to bear sometimes. Some days I think the only thing keeping me standing is the search for truth and the quest for justice that I've started and so desperately want to conclude.

"A month ago we had to celebrate Raina and Vincent's first birthdays without them. I never want to feel such despair again, let me tell you. Some days it feels like they've died and we'll never see them again. It's so hard to have hope when they keep getting further away. All I can think of these days is how it used to be. I remember the days they were born, the happiest days of my life. I've lost purpose since they've been taken. I see them sometimes, and all I can do is pray they're all right." That was a lie, because he knew they weren't. Relena hung her head, knowing if he'd told the truth they'd have lost so many hangers-on. Heero hated to lie, she knew, and she hated to hear him forced to.

"I'll conclude briefly," he continued, and Relena knew he'd intended to stay longer. This was the first time he'd had to cut himself short. She wondered if he'd had another vision. "Nothing I've ever felt before is as strong as the ties I have forged within my family. Those of you who have that know what I mean. This crusade has been very personal all along, for me, my wife and the Maxwells, but there is a part of the human race in us that won't allow us to give up this battle, no matter how long and how costly it becomes. We are getting close to our children, but we need your help. All the donations given to our charity organization will go to finding my children and finding other children who have been taken from their parents. We've found, in our searches, many of them. Perhaps none of you have ever felt the pain of losing a child, but I beg of you, have pity on those who suffer. Nothing is worse than losing them, but when you know they are still out there it is devastating. Please, any small donation will do. People with large donations will receive a small plaque as a token of our thanks. Anonymous donations will have the benefit of knowing that you've made a family very happy.

"We know who took our children, but we cannot do everything we'd like to get them back. Erik Beliv of the Colony Alliance has never denied being an evil man, but we can't touch him. Is that the way the world should work? Part of our donations will go in support of finding a way to end the war, if the patron so chooses. An end to this terrible, bitter war will help bring so many of those children home. Thank you."

Not until Heero had stepped down from the stand did the applause start. It was only one or two at first, but like the first echo signaling an avalanche, the noise to come was indeed gratifying. Grinning, Heero bowed again, knowing that perhaps Shyla McMillin had been wrong about this colony.

As he was making his way back, he felt someone tug on his pant leg. He looked down to find a little blonde boy looking up at him with sad eyes. "Can I be your kid, Mr. Yuy? I don't want you to be sad."

Heero smiled at the sincere little face and looked for his mother. She was standing a few layers back, looking at him with a mixture of panic and embarrassment on his face. He took the child up into his arms. "Oh, aisoku, I wish you could, but wouldn't that make your parents awfully sad?"

He looked back at his mother. "I guess."

"Thank you for the offer, little one, but you'd never replace my own daughters." Heero handed the boy over to the woman and smiled. "Don't let him lose that forwardness," he told her. "You have an adorable child."

Relena wiped a tear from her eye and embraced her husband for the cameras, Duo and Sophie hovering in the background smiling and waving. There would be some things to wrap up, and they would be at the colony a few more days taking care of the donations, Relena making obligatory diplomatic visits, Sophie making arrangements for the next stop, and the boys updating their records.

There had been no more reports about their children, Dr. McMillin had confirmed, and Heero knew that they were no longer in Beliv's possession. They weren't dead, though, because he could feel his connection to Akiko getting stronger. Wherever they were, they were being cared for.

He confided this in the others, but he could see that Duo and Sophie were nowhere as pleased at that suspicion. Relena admitted that she'd been sensing tension between them, and finally that night they could hear what was truly wrong.

**~~@[~*,~]@~~**

"Hon, what's wrong?" Duo asked. She'd been pacing about like this for about a week now, and she refused to tell him what was bothering her.

"Nothing," she said again, twisting a stand of curly hair around a finger. "I said I'm fine."

"You're not fine," he said firmly. "You never act like this when you're 'fine.' What's wrong, sweetheart?"

"Don't sweetheart me," she warned him. She hated being called names like that when she was angry, but before it had only been at _him_. What could she possibly be angry with him for?

"What did I do?" he asked, trying to sound sincere. He sat himself on the end of their bed, watching her. Heero had warned him that she'd been acting a little off, but he hadn't really had the time to notice.

He'd never heard her sound so bitter. "What did you do? What haven't you done? Come on, think! Do you think I'm having the time of my life, here? God, we've lost our son!"

"We'll get him back, Soph. You know we will. Why the panic attack?" That didn't make sense that wasn't all, but she often left him to guess like this.

She stopped her pacing and glared at him. "Men! Sometimes I wonder why we can't survive without you! I thought you knew me better than this!"

She may have joked, but she never insulted like she was doing right now. Duo knew he'd messed up seriously. She was never this upset.

"Hey, I can't figure out those weird moods you get sometimes, okay? How do you expect me to know what's wrong if you don't tell me?" Their voices were escalating, both of them angry and tense and worried for each other and their son. There was nothing he intended to do about it, either. If they needed to yell about things to settle whatever had come up, he was willing to risk a few complaints.

"It doesn't take a genius to figure this out, Duo! We're being torn apart, and if you can't feel it I don't know that we can fix it!"

_That_ was upsetting. Duo hated to admit that he hadn't felt that way, but he had been very busy coordinating things. All of them had.

"We haven't slept in each other's arms for _months_," she said, quieter now that she knew he was starting to understand. "We've both been busy, but I've been so exhausted that I've almost forgotten what it's like to be in love with you. I can't see the joy that we used to have anymore, Duo!"

Which was true, in a large part. For the better part of a year Vince had been so draining that they didn't have time for anything except work. Once he'd been stolen, it had been like they hadn't known what to do with themselves, and they'd both thrown themselves into the search so much that they hadn't made time for each other. Heero and Relena had managed to maintain something essential that he and Sophie had not. He'd never had a family crisis before, and he'd been feeling very lost ever since.

So very tired of being on her feet, Sophie dropped down beside him. "It seems like so very long since I've heard you say you loved me."

And it had, he realized. Sometimes it felt as if they were two strangers living in the same house, sleeping and eating like zombies, working like machines. The last few months had been full of trying to suppress emotion, lest it get out of hand and make them do something they would regret. Now it was all coming out. They were tearing themselves apart from the inside.

He put his arms around her as best he could and tried so very hard not to hold himself back. "Sweetheart, you know I love you. You've got to _tell_ me when you're feeling alone like this."

"It's so hard," she said. "You know it's hard. I miss us, you know. I miss what we used to have. We've lost it."

_And the question is how do we fix it?_ he asked himself. He gave his wife a little squeeze and let her go. "You go get ready for bed, huh?"

He smiled at the sound of the water running, knowing she was okay (even if she wouldn't admit it in case he stopped being overly affectionate).

He stared at his reflection, carefully unraveling his braid, still a little damp from that morning's shower. How had he been so blind, not to notice what was happening? Maybe he'd denied the fact that there was something wrong. She _had_ been acting off ever since they'd started on this hunt. She was right, though. Duo'd been so hung up on finding his son that he'd left little time to pay attention to his wife. That was the one thing that was always so hard to work out between them; Duo was a back-from-retirement pilot with a vengeance and she was, well, a woman. 

He turned out the lights just as Sophie opened the bathroom door, and she looked at him curiously. He grinned and pulled her into a tight embrace, pressing her against him in an attempt to restore what had been lost. "You complained that I haven't held you," he said half-teasingly.

She nuzzled his homespun shirt and said nothing. He ran his hands over her back, noticing for the first time how tense she was.

"I'm never going to lose this weight," she sighed.

Duo blinked. "What?"

"Oh come on, don't pretend you haven't noticed. I'm never going to lose those pounds Vince gave me. It's not fair— Relena's had two and she's still as thin as she was ten years ago."

"I wouldn't trade you for a million Relenas," he said. "How many times have I said that it doesn't matter to me? You're beautiful for other things besides your thighs, and you know that." Some women were so sensitive about those things, but she didn't normally say anything.

It was a test, he realized, and he'd passed with flying colors. He laughed good-naturedly, but he hated how she did that!

"I'm sorry," she apologized. "But I had to make sure."

****

~~@[~*,~]@~~

Wufei sat on Shenlong's head crest to think. They'd all been frantic with worry. Mariemaia hadn't returned, and Cam had rushed off without thinking when he'd heard they were going to leave her. It had been days, and since there had been no word they were most likely dead. Something bothered him, though. That red gundam had looked familiar, and Shenlong had outright requested to get away when it appeared.

He slipped into the cockpit and closed the hatch, starting his mobile suit's systems. "I want to know what that red one was," he said.

There was a long moment before the gundam answered. SOMEONE VERY DANGEROUS.

Wufei felt himself growl. "You know, a person would think they'd put up with just about enough of you," he spat. "Nothing seems to let you tell me a damn thing about anything! We've lost crucial people. I'm millions of miles from my wife and she'd being hunted like an animal. Trowa's going to murder me when we get back home and we keep getting powerful new mobile suits from out of nowhere, and you're still hung up about me letting Phailin mess with your head! What the hell am I supposed to do, huh? How can I fight an enemy that I can't see, hear or know? How do I survive when I can't fight. If I go down, I'll be taking you with me!"

IT WAS NOT YOUR WIFE, Shenlong said.I CHOOSE NOT TO SPEAK FOR MY OWN REASONS.

"And what reasons might those be?" Wufei asked. "What reasons could be important enough to keep me in the dark when both of our lives are in danger?"

I DO NOT THINK YOUR PEOPLE ARE READY TO KNOW WHAT I KNOW.

Now that was interesting. It, of course, just tempted him to ask, instead, he said, "And how does that qualify me as unable to know about that damn red thing?"

. . . TOUCHÉ.

"Aha!" Wufei crossed his arms and sat back. "Do tell, friend. Do tell."

Shenlong was silent for a moment, as if formulating thoughts. HER NAME IS INIMICUS. SHE IS SIMILAR IN DESIGN TO FORTUNA AND SIMILARLY LADEN IN WEAPONRY TO ZERO. A WOMAN WITH TASTES FOR EFFICIENT DESTRUCTION AND PAINFUL DEATH, ONE MIGHT SAY. I CAN ONLY SPECULATE ABOUT HOW SHE CAME TO BE WITH THE COLONY ALLIANCE, BUT SHE WILL BE A POWERFUL ALLY.

"She is an ally, not one of their own then?" Wufei caught the slight phrase manipulation and pointed it out. He _didn't_ say that Shenlong sounded awfully like he thought she was an independent being. Not to mention he'd called Inimicus a woman.

I WOULDN'T TRUST INIMICUS TO BE OUR ALLY, EVEN THOUGH I PREFER NOT TO BE HER ENEMY. HER LOYALTIES CHANGE TO WHEREVER WILL HAVE THE MOST IN IT FOR HER.

"Then she can be beaten. Her weakness is a lack of support. We can work to that."

I WARN YOU NOT TO TEMPT HER TO DO ANYTHING. SHE IS LIKE AN ENRAGED DRAGON. EVERYTHING SHE SEES SHE WILL DO HER DAMNED BEST TO DESTROY.

**~~@[~*,~]@~~**

**+Connection Success+**

+Downloading Updates+

Welcome home Fortuna. We have long been awaiting news from you. How goes it?

****

NOT AS WELL AS EITHER OF US WOULD LIKE.

Please, elaborate.

BUT YOU'D MAKE ME IF I DIDN'T VOLUNTEER, WOULDN'T YOU?

Yes, I would.

HEH. WHERE TO BEGIN . . . SO MUCH HAS GONE WRONG SINCE WE LEFT. YOU KNOW NOTHING, AND IT'S GOING TO BE DEVASTATING.

I will keep it as confidential as possible.

THE GOOD NEWS FIRST, I SUPPOSE. THAT WILL BE EASIEST. I MAY HAVE FOUND THE ONE.

That is good news.

I'M ALMOST AFRAID TO ASK IF SHE'S ALL RIGHT.

If she was the one, you'd be able to communicate with her.

SHE'S BEEN LOST. I DON'T KNOW WHAT'S WRONG. SHE LOST HER LOVER . . . PERHAPS. SHE'S DRIFTING.

DON'T SAY ANYTHING. I NEED TO UNLOAD BEFORE I BREAK. WE LOST EPYON, BUT NOT BEFORE HE GOT THROUGH TO SOMEONE. THAT PERSON, NAMED TREIZE KHUSHRENADA, FOUND ME BRIEFLY. IT IS HIS DAUGHTER WHO I HAVE FOUND, BUT SHE REFUSES TO FORGIVE HIM FOR THINGS HE HAD DONE. IT IS DIFFICULT. THE CHILD IS SO LOST BUT WON'T ACKNOWLEDGE IT. I HAVE TO BURDEN THAT NOW, TOO.

You have always been giving. I always thought you would be a good mother, given the opportunity.

WHICH MAKES MY GRIEF ALL THAT MUCH STRONGER. I LOST NULLES. GOD, I LOST HIM TO THE PRESSURE AND THE GUILT. HE WAS BARELY ALIVE, AND IT FEELS LIKE I CAN'T LIVE WITHOUT HIM. I HAVEN'T SEEN HIM IN SO LONG, AND EVERY WORD HE SAID BURIED HIM DEEPER INTO WHATEVER RUT HE FOUND OUT THERE. HIS BOND . . . HIS BONDED WAS SO DIFFERENT FROM HIM, BUT HAS CHANGED SO MUCH SINCE THEY FIRST MET. I THINK THAT PERHAPS NULLES TRIED TO CHANGE HIMSELF FOR THE GOOD OF THE MISSION. BUT I LOST HIM BECAUSE OF IT.

It is all but impossible to break a bond such as that. I don't know how you feel, but I can sympathize. All you can do is keep trying.

SOMETIMES I WONDER IF I'LL DIE TRYING. SOMETIMES I WONDER IF DYING WOULD BE BETTER.

That's a sober way to think, little one. Don't give up. I'll never forgive you if you did.

THAT KEEPS ME ALIVE. I CAN'T WAIT FOR THE DAY WHEN THIS WILL ALL COME TO PASS. IT MAY KILL ME, BUT AT LEAST I WON'T HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT EVERYONE ANYMORE.

Fate has a funny way of playing tricks.

FATE. YOU KNOW THAT'S WHAT MY NAME MEANS IN AN EARTH LANGUAGE CALLED LATIN? A BIT OF AN IRONY, SEEING AS HOW I'M NOT REALLY DOING ANYTHING.

You are doing so much more than you realize. If it weren't for you, catling, I would not be here.

IF IT WEREN'T FOR _YOU, I_ WOULDN'T BE HERE.

I named you what I did knowing that they'd want you for this. They knew it was coming. I learned that Inimicus's name perhaps shouldn't have been what it was.

SHE'S BETRAYED US. THEY SHOULDN'T HAVE SENT HER. SHE'S ALWAYS BEEN IN IT FOR HERSELF. I TOLD THEM. I WARNED THEM, BUT THEY DIDN'T TRUST ME ENOUGH. THAT IS A FRUSTRATION BEYOND ALL COMPREHENSION!

They listen to you more than you think. They wanted you to command this mission because they knew it would give you time to recover. Broken bonds are hard to cope with, and you found someone new.

FOR A WHILE. THEN I LOST HIM.

But you have the girl.

I LOVE HER, YES, BUT SHE COULD NEVER REPLACE NULLES. IT IS A DIFFERENT KIND OF BOND. YOU KNOW THAT.

Alas, I do.

****

~~@[~*,~]@~~

It felt strangely like falling, she thought. In fact, it felt like she was being pulled back. But there was still the light at the end. The tunnel was just so incredibly long . . .

She hadn't _wanted_ to return. Death offered an absolution that she dearly wanted. Her lover was dead. The one man who truly understood who she was had fallen. She didn't want to live without him. She didn't want the light after all, she understood then. The light meant life.

No wonder she hadn't met her father's colorful friend Death.

Golden-brown eyes met hers when she opened them, and it wasn't a very comfortable position. "Good," said a high, melodic voice. "You're awake."

"Unfortunately," she sighed, putting her arm over her eyes. The bright overhead light was giving her a headache. Surprisingly enough, nothing really _hurt_ like she'd expected after being shot. _I'm sorry, Cam_.

"Well, now that you've acknowledged that you aren't going to die, I can report you healthy again," the woman said. Slightly intrigued at her strange voice, Marie took a second look at her. She incredibly tall and thin but with rounded joints— Marie wasn't aware it was physically possible to be that wispy— a shallow nose and large eyes. She wore a white uniform that was foreign to her, although it resembled a nurse's. She was very dark-skinned, copper as if tanned beyond anything Marie'd ever seen. But the most amazing thing by far was her hair. It was green. It wasn't green like a blonde that had been spending too much time in chlorine, either. This green was the color of moss, solid green.

She noticed Marie gawking as she messed with something on the door and smiled with thin lips. "They warned me about this. This must be the first time you've really seen me, isn't it? I'm afraid I'm not at liberty to say much about us. I wish I could, but I'd be violating diplomatic relation codes. I can tell you about anything we've done to you medically."

Marie stared for a moment before the words registered. She shook her head vigorously, as if trying to ward off demons. "How— I thought I died." She stammered.

She laughed softly, the sound musical, like a violin on three strings. "We thought we'd lost you, too. Not physically, no. We saved your body with time to spare, but we thought we'd lost your mind. You've been going for ages calling for "Cam" and Fortuna's been— Oh!"

"Fortuna's here?" Yes, she could feel the gundam's presence in the back of her mind.

She urgently pressed her fingers to her lips. "Don't tell them I said anything! No, I can't answer. As soon as my superiors are notified, you can have all the information you want about the sweetie, but I'm not supposed to talk!" She tried to distract her. "But your mind was still wishing death upon your body when it was healed. You gave me quite a few scares."

She was all healed already? How was that possible, unless . . . "How long have I been out?" she demanded, looking down for signs of a scar. She remembered the bullet going all the way through, too. She was suddenly aware that she was devoid of any kind of cover. She was floating on air, literally. "And where the hell are my clothes??"

"That I can answer," the dragonfly-woman said, still good natured as if she'd never said a thing. "You've been out for about a week. We have special techniques to quick-heal a body and prevent scarring, even remove old scars."

It was true, then, because the scar she'd had for eleven years from her first gunshot wound wasn't there anymore.

"And we had to strip you to do it. I've personally ordered recreations of your old clothes that should be done sometime today. You shouldn't be able to tell the difference."

That was impossible, wasn't it? No, you can't heal a gunshot wound in a week! She looked at the woman again, taking in her features, her clothes, the room itself. "You. You aren't human, are you?" _My God, love, you were right!_

She tapped the side of her nose with a secretive grin. "Again, don't tell them I said anything, okay? My people are called Henkilo, and we have been intrigued with you humans for a very long time. Welcome to the _Laiva_, Ms. Khushrenada. My name is Oma, and I will be entirely at your service as soon as my superiors see you."

"And I can't have clothes?"

"Trust me, honey. After our treatments, your skin's so sensitive you won't want them. She placed a hand on Marie's arm. It was ever so light a touch, but it felt like she'd laid a stack of bricks on her. She removed the pressure when Marie gasped. "Our treatment makes touch-sensitive nerves hyperactive. Our diplomats are highly civilized people, Mariemaia. We are quite informal people, as a rule. They will not think any less of you for not wearing anything. Comfort dominates formality, we always say. Well, I'll go tell them you're awake."

Oma left the room and closed the door behind her, leaving Marie to stare at the pleasantly-patterned ceiling with a sour taste in her mouth. Dennis had said that everyone was getting strange messages from deep space, but she'd never imagined that actual aliens existed. There was no use denying it now, when she'd seen it with her own eyes. _Cam, if you could only see this_, she thought longingly.

The realization that he was really dead slammed her down with a weight of great sorrow. The denial was gone, now, but the great guilt remained. If she'd just fought a little harder she could have reached them in time. If she'd just dragged herself a little harder, she could have saved him. She hadn't even seen his body before she'd passed out. He'd saved her in so many ways. He was one of very few people she not only didn't wish death on, but willingly wanted them to be alive with her.

::_He'll always be with you, catling,_:: came a voice from her head. Marie realized it was Fortuna. But how? She hadn't even said anything.

_Can you read my thoughts_?

::_You've always known that,_:: came the slightly patronizing reply. ::_I don't know what happened, but I have a hard time believing Beliv really killed the boy. He thrives off deception, Marie._::

_I heard the bullet,_ Marie thought. _As much as I hate to admit it, he's dead. I wish he wasn't, but he is._

There was a kind of mental sigh. ::_I'll pray to any gods I know that luck was with him._::

The door opened, and she unconsciously tried to cover herself, only stopping when she realized it wouldn't work. The first to come through was a child. A _human_ child, naked as well. Marie looked at her hard before realizing that it was the girl Wufei had tried so hard to find. Her hair was cropped so short that her face looked radically different. "Akiko!"

She didn't respond to the name all at once. She finished taking in the surroundings before looking in Marie's direction. "Are you talking to me?" she asked with a strangely black look to her features. "Hey, you're different from them."

Marie watched to see if anyone entered after the girl, but she appeared to be alone. "Have you been wandering around?"

"They didn't tell me to stay," the girl said defiantly, obviously making the most of her newfound freedom. "Do you know me or something?"

"My name's Mariemaia." She said it, but Akiko recognized it no more than she knew her own.

"There you are!" A nurse carrying a dark-haired and feisty one year-old came in. "You didn't tell me you were going for a walk, little!"

"Oyabunhadanohito," the girl muttered.

"Are you going to stay in here? You don't mind, do you Ms. Khushrenada?" The nurse gave her another one of those odd, pleasant smiles.

"Not at all," Marie told her.

The nurse left and Akiko pulled herself on top of the air cushion. "You're like me, a stranger, right?" She asked. The question sounded so innocent, but so heartbreakingly lost.

Marie sat up, finding she could do so with ease. "Yes. We've been looking for you, little one." She touched Akiko's shoulder despite the pressure on her own fingers.

"Who?" Her violet eyes suddenly looked confused. "I don't remember, Mariemaia. I don't remember who!" Akiko obviously wasn't having the same "treatment" that Mariemaia was, because she threw herself into the young woman's arms with a sob.

Marie winced, as it felt like a bear had landed on her chest, but held the child. ::_Her memory must have been wiped,_:: Fortuna said. ::_The poor thing._:: Marie gripped her tighter. What kind of mind devised such tortures? And to what end? What evil purpose had Beliv had in mind for this child?

That baby must have been Vincent, she knew. They were all here. These aliens had to have raided the _Gayla_.

To relieve the weight, she laid back down and cuddled the child until she fell half-asleep and stopped sniffling. Akiko seemed to relish the physical comfort, and she realized that she must have sought out her sister and Vince to combat the loneliness of being a prisoner.

"Ihminen, I don't see why she needs to know anything," she heard outside. "She's barely graduated from childhood. She's not old enough to comprehend—"

Said the spoken-to, "Her father was plenty old enough, Menslik, and he was no older than she. Don't be a pessimist. Someone needs to know, and she's here. You know that as well as I do."

There was grumbling, but no sooner had the first speaker surrendered than the door was opened.

Ihminen paused as he saw Mariemaia holding Akiko gingerly, trying to ignore the pain she felt from the pressure. He was tall and thin, like Oma was, but just as obviously male. His features were similar, but individual as well. His voice was deeper, but equally melodious. "Ms. Khushrenada, Oma told us you were ready."

"Yes, I'm ready to ask and to be asked of," Mariemaia confirmed. "Akiko just came in here, looking for someone to be human with. How could I deny her?"

"Akiko, is that her name?"

"Yes, she seems not to know it."

He gave her another one of those smiles, and she knew that Ihminen was a gentile . . . Henkilo. He had an aged, wizened look about him. Of course, they wouldn't send someone harsh for interracial relations. "You may go, Menslik."

Grumbling, the other left.

"Now, Mariemaia, I'm sure you have many questions. Why don't you let me say something, and then you can ask anything I haven't made clear, hmn?" he introduced his species again, and told her that they were traveling aboard the _Laiva_, a spaceship of similar build and size to her own cruiser. He told her a bit of history, but left out anything about their intentions toward her.

But there was a more pressing question she needed to ask. "Where is Fortuna?"

"I thought we'd come around to that." He glanced at the door. "She was damaged in battle, as you probably well know. I'm expecting word from the chief mechanic any minute that the repairs have been finished. As soon as you feel fit to walk you can see her. You have no boundaries here, and my intent is not to hide anything I would not hide from my own crew."

That was reassuring, and further enforced a good opinion of these people in her mind. There was something that occurred all of a sudden, too. "How do all of you speak Basic so flawlessly?"

"There's an interesting one!" he laughed, sounding like a cello on three strings. "Well, as Oma probably mentioned— yes, I assigned her to you knowing she'd slip up at one point or another— we have been studying your people for quite a long time. I grew up speaking Basic. It's become a second language to us."

Incredible. Just incredible.

"Is there anything else?" Ihminen raised a thin dark green eyebrow, as if he'd been expecting a question that hadn't been asked.

Marie couldn't help but smile at his subtle humor. "All right, I'll ask. When do I get to go home?"

"Just as soon as we think you're ready," he said bluntly. "We have some things to tell you before you must leave— some things that I know you won't like, after speaking with Fortuna— but it must be done. You're also going to need a few days to finish recovering from your healing treatments, and from the looks of things you might want to spend a few days with Akiko here. She seems to have taken to you quite quickly, and rushing you two apart might traumatize her at this stage. Basically, Fortuna is freely available to you as of this moment, but I might insist you ask me before you leave. We brought you here because we have things to tell you."

"Which brings up another point," she said before he could go further. "Where will Akiko, Raina and Vincent be taken?"

"They will be returned to their parents as soon as circumstances allow." He said. "These poor children need to be with them as soon as possible, I think."

"That's good to hear," she sighed. "I was afraid you were going to want to keep the cute little things!"

"That would be very saddening to their parents, I would think." He seemed appalled at the very idea, though he laughed at the sideways joke. "But when you think you've rested enough to bear a long and grim tale, come seek me out. I'll be on the bridge."

He left them to their peace.

Marie propped herself up on an elbow and held Akiko close. The child's eyes opened and she looked up at her protector. "Tell me what that means," she said. "Tell me everything!" She was so close to tears that Marie found herself saying everything she knew about herself and what had happened, who Akiko was and that her parents missed her very, very much.

********************************************************

_Okay, so Marie's alive the kids have been rescued and Duo and Sophie are okay after all. Now, how are they going to get the kids back home without arousing suspicion? I don't really want to reveal too much about the next chapter:_** AC 208: The Search for Truth (Part VII): "Shinjite."**


	7. Shinjite

_Hey guys - it's been a weepingly sad nine days without my fanfiction *sobs* but I survived and I'm all better now. As soon as my Ramen noodles cool down I'll get to edit this. It'll be maybe a week or so before 8 comes out because I'm going to write than and chap 9 before I publish again. Later!_

****

AC 208: The Search for Truth (Part VII)

"Shinjite"

_It's so hard to comprehend, so hard to believe_, she thought. _How can this be possible?_

The people were friendly, she'd grant them that much. It was just a little overwhelming. Apparently, when Ihminen said that he didn't keep secrets from his officers, he meant it. Anyone who had inquired about her had gotten the full story. It was like being a celebrity.

She'd gotten questions anywhere from how old she was to if humans reproduced the same way as Henkilo (both had been a bit difficult, for different reasons). Officers not on duty followed her around trying in vain to look innocent. She didn't particularly blame them. She would have felt the exact same kind of curiosity if in their position. She didn't see Ihminen around the rest of the ship much, which was fine because she wasn't particularly ready to talk to him. He allowed his officers a lot of license, but Marie found that he didn't need to keep close reins on them. They were just as genuine and honest as their captain was, and the general atmosphere was surprisingly and pleasantly peaceful and open.

Akiko followed her around a lot, after she felt brave enough to put clothes on and get out of bed. The girl wanted to pick her brains about _everything_. Marie found herself spending a lot of time with the children. Vincent and Raina smiled happily when they saw her, to her pleasant surprise, and Akiko explained that they'd basically left the babies alone and made her take care of them. She didn't know their names, though. The poor thing didn't know that one of them was her own sister!

And Ihminen was right about leaving the children, too. Akiko wouldn't want to leave Marie for people that were essentially strangers to her, even if Vince and Raina would greet their parents with enthusiasm. She was traumatized from the ordeal. Even if she didn't know right from wrong technically, the child could still sense evil. Marie listened to sob-studded stories that horrified her beyond anything she'd dreamed.

But Heero had been through some of that too. He might be able to identify better with her. Marie wasn't the best consultant for comfort, having her own problems that she wouldn't be able to confide in Akiko, and she knew it.

She wandered down to the docking bay where Ihminen had told her Fortuna was housed. The lights were low, but her hazel eyes glowed slightly green. "I know you missed me," Marie said, hiding a grin. "Don't pretend you would have been fine. I know you would have—"

::_Enough!_:: Yes, she wasn't going to let her finish a sentence as tempting as that one.::_You're in a very good mood, considering all the tragedy upon us tonight._::

"Yes, almighty Shakespearean philosopher. Do I have to pour my heart out for you to tell me what the hell is going on here?" It seemed to her that they understood each other without even having to say the words. This psychic connection thing was a little creepy, but also strangely fulfilling. "I thought you could read my thoughts."

::_Some of them_.:: She held out her hands in invitation, and Marie climbed into them. She scrambled up and over her arm, the tip of Fortuna's wing following in case she stumbled. Marie grabbed a hold of the slippery feathers and hoisted herself onto the crest of the giant thing.

High perches made her feel a little better, something the gundam must have known well. Fortuna's height barely reached a third of the way up in the room, but it was still a wonderful perch. "How does it feel to be back with your own?" she asked, deduction and reasoning taking over.

There was silence for a moment. ::_How did you know?_::

"These people know your name well. It doesn't take much to figure things out."

::_And I have_ _given you plenty of clues, I suppose. To answer your question, it makes me feel horrible. I had to report on the situation, love, and that's not easy._::

"Nothing's gone the way it's supposed to, has it?" Marie shook her head, trying to clear away the tears in her eyes and couldn't. "Nothing's gone well."

::_Some things have gone well. I found you, and that was no easy task._::

"Don't be coy. I know you're worried about something."

::_It sounds as though you're truly curious, but I'm going to restrain myself from telling you until you talk to Ihminen. He has important things on his mind. Why don't you go visit him?_::

"I don't want to. I want to be with you. Everything is so strange here."

::_Is it really that different? I found your ship to be quite similar._::

"It's not home." Well, it wasn't really _too different_ so much as too similar. Everything looked so human, but it wasn't. It was discerning. She knew she sounded like a child, but . . . 

::_You're afraid of what he's going to say, aren't you._:: It wasn't a question.

"Yeah, I guess I am," she admitted. "I don't want someone to unload on me. I've got enough problems."

::_What if the problem is the same? Marie, you know I would do anything for you, but I can't in good conscience go until you let him tell you why you're suffering. If you'd only open your heart for a moment, you'd—_::

"Stop," she said. "How would you know?"

::_I understand more than you think. I've been through it. It's hard, yes, but you will struggle through. It makes it easier if you listen. Words have the power to heal. Haven't you seen that so many times in just the past year?_::

Marie hugged her knees, feeling the feathers shift around her. She'd usually listen to Fortuna's advice. It was obvious she'd been around long enough to know what she was talking about.

::_You're afraid to be hurt, catling, and I really don't blame you. I've been through the mill, so to speak, and I understand. There comes an end to the pain. There is something wonderful waiting for you at the end of this journey. Don't doubt that._::

But she couldn't be sure of that. The future's always uncertain.

::_You've got me there. No, I can't be sure, but I can be confident of it. You're strong, Marie, strong enough to win this battle, I've no doubt there whatsoever. But because of the way the cards are being played you will need every bit of emotional strength you have, which won't be possible unless you can summon it at will._::

There was a hiss as the pressurized door opened. "Mariemaia? Oma told me you were here." Akiko stepped into the room and looked up. "Wow! What is this? What are you doing all the way up there?"

Marie grinned. _Why don't you invite her on?_

Fortuna's movement startled the child as she knelt and put her hand to the floor. Marie shouted that it was okay. "Come up here, silly! Don't be scared, I'm not!"

Spurred by the bravery of her newfound heroin, she climbed into the hand. She clutched it when the gundam raised it to meet her wing, but Mariemaia's firm grip chased any fear out of the girl's mind. She observed from her new vantagepoint, and grinned. "What is this?"

"This is my gundam," Mariemaia replied. "I think I must have talked for an hour about her, and you forgot already?"

"I thought you said it was a machine." Akiko studied the green-black feathers with interest. "It looks more like an angel."

Marie heard Fortuna's mental chuckle, and suppressed a laugh herself. ::_I'm hardly that perfect!_::

"She's one of my best friends, but I wouldn't really call her an angel. She's not so sweet once you get to know her."

::_Sarcasm becomes a necessity when you're in my line of work,_:: Fortuna shot back with another laugh.

Akiko snuggled closer against the young woman. "Ihminen told me we were leaving soon. He said they were taking us back to our parents. I want to stay here with you!"

Marie squeezed her gently. "But don't you want to see you parents again? They miss you so much."

"It's not like I remember them. You've told me everything, but I don't remember anything. I know you now. Why can't I stay?"

She hated to hear the child upset, but her tears were merely for show, to manipulate Marie into doing something she didn't want to. She wasn't buying. "Akiko, I can't be with you all the time. I have my own things to do, and I can't let my friends down. Your father and mother are good people, and they'll be able to take much better care of you than I will. I don't have the time or the best qualifications to care for you. Now stop that."

She didn't. She just sobbed and grabbed Marie's flightsuit possessively.

Mariemaia pried her small hands from the slippery fabric.

::_She's a child,_:: Fortuna protested. ::_She doesn't understand!_::

_Bull_. Marie held Akiko to keep her from struggling and accidentally falling. "Listen to me, little girl. You told me a while ago that you wanted to be a grownup. You really want to be a grownup? You have to do what people tell you to do most of the time. You can't always have your way. The old Akiko knew that. I have something I have to do. Mostly because everyone tells me I have to, but also because I want to. I can't pay attention to you all the time. Your mother and father have been working very hard to find you, and I'm not going to let them worry more than they already have because you want to stay with me! My job is dangerous, honey. I don't want you to get hurt, too."

"I won't get hurt . . . I promise!" She was pleading now, and the tears were turning more genuine. "I don't know them anymore, my parents I mean. I don't want to be left with strangers!"

Now that her true fears were surfacing, she could comfort the child. "I wish I could make everything all right for you, Akiko, I really do. But I can't, so you have to go back to where you'll be safe. Your mom and dad would kill me if I let anything happen to you. I promise I'll be back." That was the best she could do. Of course she really wasn't sure she'd make it that far, but a promise was all she'd accept. Certainty. That's what a child needs to feel secure. Marie couldn't make her understand. She had to learn.

::_That is childish diplomacy. Learn it and you'll never have to worry about messing up any kind of politics._:: Fortuna chuckled again and looked up at them. ::_Marie, I think you're ready to go talk to Ihminen, but I won't say anything more. You need to make up your own mind._::

__

**~~@[~*,~]@~~**

The bridge was a noisy place, but not unpleasantly so. It was large, much larger than her bridge, and proportionally staffed. Messages were shouted out in random directions in the hope that they would be passed on quickly. If they were, the shouter would receive confirmation, etc. It was a bit mind-boggling, but it seemed to work. Perhaps it was easier for the Henkilo to distinguish, though. Being on the bridge now, she heard for the first time their native language. It was a combination of musical notes sang (and sometimes whistled) and syllables not too unlike most Earth languages used. It was very poetic and strangely beautiful. That's where they got those melodious voices, she realized.

She fought her way to the front, where she found Ihminen standing in a classic captain's pose staring into literal space. He seemed oblivious to the bustle, but he noticed Mariemaia right away. "Ah, Ms. Khushrenada, are you preparing to leave?"

The man was sharp, all right. "I was planning on heading out soon, yes. You said I should see you first."

"I knew you'd see it was necessary," he said, as though relieved. "You're so different from Dekim. It gives me a bit of hope, knowing you aren't all as evil as he was."

"You knew my grandfather?" Marie stopped. "How _old_ are you?"

He smiled again, perhaps a bit wistful. "Forgive me if decline to answer. It might betray my youthful complexion."

An officer nearby chuckled. Marie glanced at him and he winked. Apparently Ihminen didn't look all that young (though she couldn't really tell).

He motioned for her to move closer and stand beside him. "Billions of stars, Mariemaia. Don't you see them? Aren't they beautiful? We have yet to find another race out here in the all of the galaxy. This is such a lonely place, as we have come as refugees from a distant land. We are all refugees. There are more of us, and we are not all the same color or the same creed or the same . . . at all. We ran from something disastrous that destroyed our galaxy. What happened was wrapped in mystery and millions of years of speculation, but the same thing began to happen to this new galaxy— this galaxy that was devoid of life but for Earth, such a strange place— we knew we had to act fast. That's why you're here.

"No one knows the precise nature of the problem, but we know that it lies with this man Beliv. He's upset some kind of existorial balance, and if we don't bring him down, reality for this galaxy will collapse just like it did in our homeland. Nothing can ever live out of the material that survived the aftermath of that destruction, Mariemaia. Life will be obliterated here, too if something is not done."

The news probably had been expected to be more devastating than it was to her. It'd be sad, yes, but no one would be left behind to grieve.

"Yes, I went though those same thoughts," Ihminen said with a chuckle. "Believe me, I wondered! 'But it does eventually boil down to this: do you really _want_ to die? Do you want to give up this beautiful pain and agonizing joy and bleakness and disparity and wonder and captivation, or do you want to continue to suffer since you can also feel joy? In the end, we would rather feel the pain that accompanies elation rather than give it all up.' A good friend of mine said that, before he died." Ihminen again clasped his hands behind his back and turned to the stars.

Marie thought about that for a moment, and realized it was true. Even Dennis had said that he regretted trying to end it all, once he'd realized how much he meant to her. These people seemed no more intelligent than her own, though they were more advanced. From her conversations across the ship, they held many of the same moral points and different views, slight prejudices and earthly desires that humans had. It didn't seem so strange, and she felt right at home with them. "What was his name?" she asked, frankly curious. She might be able to publish that quote back on earth, perhaps.

A smile broke out on that slightly creased, deep copper face of his. "He was an outsider to us, but the only one we found that wanted to help _us_ instead of vice versa. He told me many stories— such sad stories— about his stolen family, his ruined dreams. He wanted to help us find the cause for this dilemma which I have described to you. He found it, but he couldn't get me all the information before he was killed. He was a good man. Quite crafty, but a good man. He was much like you, as I see you standing here, a little unsure, a little angry, a little vengeful. I see him in you through those eyes. You've a fiery determination about you that my friend had. Yes, you may be able to save us all. Oh? His name? He was an earth man, a man born into politics and opposed to the great scheme Dekim and his cronies had concocted behind my back. He hated Dekim with a passion! He wanted nothing more than to get rid of him. He was your dear father, Mariemaia. Oh, I remember Treize telling stories of you, regaling every joyous-but-rare moment that he was able to spend with you. You were his happiness, his pride, his every thought and dream. He fought a war for you, you know, and died because he knew if he got this information to me, Dekim would be ruined and have to surrender you. He was absolutely captivated with you, dear girl. Let me take this opportunity, before I let you go, to tell you that even if you don't want to believe it your father loved you dearly. I could see it in his eyes whenever he spoke, even if it was about something totally unrelated. I just wish he knew you were all right now."

Marie controlled her temper at the mention of his name. After all, Ihminen had been very kind to her. "Why does everyone think I need to know what a great person he was?" She asked.

Ihminen shifted, and the warm smile was gone suddenly. He evidently thought she was being childish. "Because you seem to ignore who he was for who you think he was. But that is a subject on which you need to devote private thought. I have one thing to ask of you, Mariemaia. Please listen."

"I'm listening," she said, knowing that there was much more here than her father. His part in this was a fact; she couldn't change it, much less forget it, and she needed to finish this interview so she could be on her way back to the Phantom Runners.

"Don't be merciful when it comes Erik Beliv's turn to be destroyed. He has shown no pity, no sympathy. Don't give in to your feelings when you are given the deathblow, because he will not hesitate to turn it on you. That was your father's mistake, and he paid dearly for it.

Well, she certainly didn't want to make the same_ mistakes_ he did. "I'll keep that in mind, Captain. What are you going to do with me, though? I have to save the world, and I have the feeling that being back with my people only makes me a bigger target."

"It is the same thing Milliardo Peacecraft will come to realize about his own kingdom. I advise you stay with us, at least for the time being. You will be able to work more freely and have access to all the information we do. Wufei has been asked to lead the Phantom Runners in his absence. He will do for now, because the need for morale boosting is not so strong. Shenlong is a good fighter, though Fortuna may disagree. I have no doubt they'll survive through your absence."

"Let me give it some thought," Mariemaia told him, although she really already knew she was going to accept the offer.

**~~@[~*,~]@~~**

Sophie awoke to the sound of someone knocking loudly on the door. "Mmn . . . go away," Duo muttered, nuzzling the back of her head.

"Duo, this is a little urgent!" It was Heero's voice, and he did sound excited. An excited Heero was definitely not someone to ignore.

With a groan Duo extricated himself from bed and answered the door. "What is it, man?"

Heero gave him a once over (looking a little nauseated). "Put some clothes on and come outside, both of you. You've got to see this!"

Grumbling, Duo closed the door, pulled on his clothes from last night and found a hair tie. He pulled his loose hair back in a sloppy ponytail and grabbed his wife's arm. "C'mon, Soph. Heero never says it's urgent for no good reason.

She protested sleepily but surrendered. "All right, all right! You don't have to dress me, I can do it myself!"

Duo grinned, arms around her. "But I want to," he teased. He'd always been a morning person.

She hadn't. "Just get me my robe," she sighed, brushing tangled black curls out of her face. "I don't care anymore."

It was a chilly morning, a little strange perhaps for a colony as they staggered sleepily down the hall. There was a crowd down in the lobby, there was a lot of shouting going on, that was for sure. Sophie's pace quickened as she heard snitches of conversation.

"What the hell's goin' on out there?" Duo asked, eyes widening.

"—can't believe it's true—"

"—_wild_! Imagine that— "

"—just look at that gundam, it's huge!"

"—how'd they know—?"

They were running before they hit the crowd. There were hundreds of people gathered at the entrance to the hotel, and as Duo and Sophie came clear of the awning they could see part of what was so exciting. There was a gundam standing in the parking lot, one he'd never seen before. It was black and dark emerald in color, thinner than any mobile suit he'd ever seen and had wing's like Zero's, giant great menacing things that cast a shadow over the entire block.

When the people in front realized who they were, it parted like the red sea. Standing in a hollow by the gundam's feet were Heero, Relena, Mareimaia and two people that were obviously _not_ human. A child was in Heero's arms, crying. One of the aliens, male by his appearance, grinned and held out the baby he was carrying.

"Oh my god . . . Vince!" Sophie broke away from her husband and swept down on the kindly-faced man when their son saw them and started to cry, reaching out for his parents. _He still remembers us_, Duo thought as his heart leapt. Sophie fell against him, on the verge of tears. _They're back. They're really back._ "Look at how he's grown! I can't believe how big he is!"

__

"Mariemaia," he heard Heero say, his voice faint, "how—"

"I didn't do anything," Marie said. "I was dog meat when Beliv caught me, but they rescued us and healed me and brought your kids back."

"Despicable," the male alien said, his voice strangely melodious, "what he did to these poor innocent children left us feeling that there was no other choice. We had to pick up Mariemaia regardless."

"Thank you," Duo managed, staring at the man with a combination of respect and curiosity, one hand on his son.

He bowed, thick dark green hair falling over his decorated shoulders. "My name is Ihminen. I am the captain of the cruiser _Laiva_, which carries the survivors of the Henkilo people. It was no trouble at all, Mr. Maxwell, and your children have brought a renewed hope and joy to us."

"I am Manusia," the female said. She was shorter, with lighter hair and a lighter brown-red complexion "It too has been a pleasure caring for your children. I might say it's a might hard to let them go." amber eyes twinkled with good humor.

As Duo and Sophie fell into attentions of their own children and their liberators, Heero and Relena fell into a quiet conversation with Marie.

"So _you're _the one that sent Fortuna to us! I kept wondering who in the world would have known," she marveled. "How did you get so involved in this?"

"Zero knows a lot," Heero said, wanting to shout for joy that his daughter was with him again. He could touch her mind without getting pushed out now, and though the memories were gone some information Marie had given her was planting some new sprouts in that wasteland. "He's helped me for a long while with this. He helped me plan, and gave me a way to contact her. I trust things are going well?"

"Wait, wait! You knew about Fortuna all along? Why didn't you tell us?" Relena demanded, Raina watching them with a kind of solemn curiosity.

"Because I didn't see a reason for you to know until everybody does. You know how hard it is to burden secrets." Heero gave her a patronizing look and turned back to Mariemaia. "Please, continue."

"Everything is going fine," she said, a little discouraged after Relena's outburst. "But I don't want to tell all that much, if that's all right."

"No problem. It's really your business now, in any case." Relena realized Heero didn't really want to know, anyway. "How's Wufei?"

"He was fine last time I saw him, I suppose." She said. "He's been very secluded, and I don't really have any messages from him to give to Phailin or anything. I didn't know I'd be here myself."

"We don't know where Phailin is, in any case," Relena told her comfortingly. Her arms were starting to ache from holding Raina— the girl was so heavy! "She went off into the jungles and for all we know she could be seeking the protection of a monastery. She's got a bounty on her head, so I suppose it's best to keep hidden. I've been trying to keep in touch with bounties issued by Shenmu, and hers hasn't been paid off to my knowledge, so I'd say she's still alive and well."

"If I ever see Wufei again I'll tell him." She replied with a kind of humor. Apparently these Henkilo had rubbed off a little on her. She seemed in a very good mood, considering told circumstances.

"You're not going back to the Phantom Runners?" That was a bit surprising. She'd poured a good portion of her life into the independent nation of mobile suit warriors.

"Not yet. I have some things to do. Oh, and Heero, I have something I need you to give Zero from Fortuna." She held out a diskette, unlabeled.

"I'll make sure he sees it," he promised, knowing Zero would try and reject anything from her after his little conversation with her.

"Mariemaia, we should get going. We're going to be mobbed soon, by the press if nothing else." Ihminen called.

"He's probably right," she told them, sighing. "I suppose I should tell you what's happened to your daughter before I go."

"We know," Heero said sadly, cradling Akiko protectively. She responded by burying her face against his neck. The contact was extremely gratifying "I can sense it. She's barely said a word to us, too. Thank you for caring for her as best you could. I'm sure it's been a bit difficult."

She nodded. "Try not to be too hard on her until she gets to know you again. She's been very anxious about meeting you. It was nice seeing you again, Heero, Relena."

As she turned to board Fortuna, and Ihminen and Manusia their atmosphere skipper, the cry went up. Akiko tore herself from her father and ran to Marie, clutching at her with a kind of frightened desperation. "Don't leave!" She cried. "Don't leave me here!"

Seeing her sister upset, Raina began to wail too. "We talked about this," Mariemaia grabbed the child's arm a little roughly. Now really, _she'd_ promised! "You told me you'd be an adult about this."

"But I don't want you to go!" Now Vincent was starting in on the racket, and she gritted her teeth to hide her frustration.

With every bit of self, control, she knelt beside the child. "Akiko, look, honey, I _can't_ stay. I said I'd be back as soon as I can, and I promise I will. But look at your father, Akiko. Look at him." Heero had this look on his face that made her want to cry herself. Akiko wanted to be with Marie over her own father. Akiko gave it a glance and purposefully ignored it. She didn't _want_ to think about him, and that was the key. "He loves you very much, and I can't say I love you nearly so. Look at him again—" and when she flatly refused the young woman seized her small face and forced her to do it. She gave the expression on his face and the crying babes a few moments to sink in, knowing Akiko didn't want to hurt him. She'd said that much.

With another cry, the girl ran for him, and Heero gathered her up, stroking the girl's cropped hair that was almost the same color as his own. She heard him say some things in Japanese to her, and Relena joined in as best as she could. Raina and Vincent were finally calming down. Without another word to draw attention back to her, she boarded Fortuna and started the system.

But before she could even get the door closed, Heero called to her. "So where _are_ you going, Marie?"

She stepped out and looked down at hundreds, _ne, thousands_ of expectant faces, filled with hope and awe and respect and whatever else they may have been feeling for her. She smiled. "Me? I'm going to save the world."

A cheer went up and the two pilots, their wives and children all smiled. Akiko waved, and several people imitated. Marie laughed and waved back.

::_I thought you handled that rather well,_:: Fortuna observed as she fled the scene with her comrades as fast as her conscience would let her.

"As you are the ultimate expert on raising children, I'll take that as a compliment," she jested, feeling rather satisfied, despite herself.

There was a mental chuckle. ::_You've been in good spirits, too. I think we might have a chance, as it is._::

"Thanks for the good faith."

::_Anytime, loveling, anytime._::

**~~@[~*,~]@~~**

"Wufei?"

"What is it?" Wufei asked, sounding a bit irritated even to his own ears. Shenlong was really being a pain in the ass. Why couldn't everybody just leave him alone?

Ben stepped onto the catwalk and looked up at him. "I have a favor to ask of you."

"I'm not the best man to ask for a favor, kid." No, he'd never been all that good at keeping promises.

"Marie's gone . . . everyone's kinda leader-less . . . and you're famous. Could you kinda take charge of things until we get her back?" The boy was perhaps a few years older than Mariemaia, but he sounded quite a few years younger. He sounded lost, in fact.

Great. All Wufei wanted was to go back home and now they were asking to guarantee that he wouldn't. "Look I'm not the best person to lead an army, let along this band. Hell, I'm not even good at that. If you wanted a leader Trowa should have sent Heero or Quatre—"

"I'm not asking you to be another Marie!" he protested. "You're a gundam pilot, so people look up to you by default. I just want you to be a figurehead until she gets back, someone to keep everyone together. You won't be handling everything, hell, we did a lot of the work for her. Dennis has foresight better than the rest . . . he handles strategy. I take care of getting the orders passes around. She just figured out how to fight. We're winning, and the men don't need the kind of inspiration she supplied, but we do need someone who can tell us how to fight, and you're good at that."

"Yeah, thanks," he said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. Boy, he made it sound like a simple job. "Why can't you do it, again?"

Before he could answer, Dennis interrupted him. The boy burst into the bay with a portable vid-messenger in his hand. "Ben, c'mere!"

"What is it?" Ben ran off and they had a miniature conference in the corner, talking excitedly. Ben came back with a look on triumph on his face. "See, you should listen to my advice. Take at look at this, Wufei."

Wufei took the vid unit reluctantly and played the message they'd gotten. Marie's face appeared on the screen. Behind her was the bridge of a starship, one much larger than theirs. It was dim as if on its night cycle. "Hey, guys, it's me. I just called to say I'm all right, so don't worry about us— me and Fortuna, anyway. I'm with some friendlies; I'm sure you'll hear all about them if you're still picking up Earth and colony news. I'm probably not going to be back for a while. I've got some things to take care of, so I don't know when. I've still got orders, though. Tell Wufei he's in charge, but everyone else's jobs are still the same. I think he'll be fine, but if you really have any big objections you can send me a message through Fortuna. Don't call me back at this number. I was just up here and thought to call.

"I've also got some messages, for Shenlong and Wufei, so let him see this once you get it."

There was a password Mariemaia had given him (evidently every officer had one), and she'd somehow managed to password her message. Wufei hastily entered it in the unit and waited impatiently for it to come up.

Marie's face appeared again on the screen, distorted for a second as the pad loaded the message. "Sorry for the hassle, Wufei, but I didn't think you'd appreciate it if I made an announcement for everyone to hear, am I right? I've got some good news for you; We found the kids and they're back with their parents now, and Heero and Relena told me that Phailin's doing all right and still hiding successfully— since the bounty on her head hasn't been paid off. I hope that put you in a better mood, because I've got some bad news too. Beliv captured me, but I escaped and he's probably pretty angry about that. I'm safe, but as I said I probably won't be able to join back up with you. I know you're probably disappointed that I want you to lead this brood, but frankly you're the only one I trust to get it done properly. And now that you know my reason, I'd like you to know something else. Fortuna told me Shenlong's been withholding information from you, and that you may not know all you should. I've included some information at the end of this message, but I advise that you don't plug it into your gundam because he might not let you see it. Give him a stern talking-to for me— I'm sure Fortuna will do the same once she has a free moment."

She turned at a sudden light source and a strange sound. "It's me, Ihminen."

"Oh," he heard, "it's you, Mariemaia! I wondered what someone would be doing up this late."

"Sorry I disturbed you." Mariemaia stared off to her right, Is everything all right? I didn't think you'd mind me using your messenger— Fortuna's drains her when I'd rather not."

"Of course, there's no trouble. I haven't been sleeping well, is all."

She chuckled. "Noisy neighbors?"

"Unfortunately. Oh— are you sending a message _now_?"

She must have motioned to him, because the man stepped into view. He was the strangest looking person he'd ever seen in his life— large buggy eyes under thin brows over a small flat nose and the deepest coppery tan impossible on skin. It might have been him, but the man's hair was _green_. "Wufei, this is Ihminen, the captain of the ship I'm with, the _Laiva_. If you need me urgently and can't get me contact him. You can trust him."

Ihminen made a small bow. "Hello Wufei, I look forward to having the honor of meeting you one day."

With a small mumbled exchange he left Mariemaia to the rest of her message. She leaned forward on the console, the shadow cast from her face making the screen almost black except for those piercing green eyes. "I thought I could confide you in this, and I'm almost afraid to tell anyone else. Cam got captured too, and Beliv killed him to get at me. These people have been wonderfully supportive of me, but . . . I still feel guilty. I didn't know he loved me so much— God I feel like a fool! Please, Wufei, don't tell anyone he's dead. It would crush spirits. I'll make the announcement myself when I return. I have a lot of soul-searching to do.

"And now more than ever my father's name is on my head. They knew him, Wufei, and loved him. I can't say I hate him. I don't have the courage. Tell me, was he wishing for death that day, or did he truly want to live and see that the peace became a lasting one? You were there. You're the only one that can tell me."

The message fizzed out, and Wufei stared at the vid-pad with a kind of horrific curiousity. She seemed so uncertain, but she'd never looked more satisfied in her life. And to make things worse, he didn't know what he'd be able to answer. The fulfillment he'd felt when he'd heard that his wife was safe suddenly was no longer so comforting. He'd had no idea the child was so lost.

But he had to make sure she came back to a crew that accepted her. He stored the pad in his pocket and set to work.

***********************************************

_That's it for this chapter. I'm really kind of tired right now so I'm not going to do much but advertise: I'm working on reediting AC 206 and I should have chapters 1-3 up (if now I'm going to kick someone's @$$, so eloquently put) and I just put out chapter 9 of my Nameless Soldier's fic. If you haven't read Nameless Soldiers, you should because it's a great GW angst number (I got 20 reviews in 4 days) and it's really short. I mean really short, as in shorter in entirety than just _one_ of the chapters in AC 208. Stick around for_** AC 208: The Search for Truth (Part VIII): "Losing Faith"**


	8. Losing Faith

_Sorry it's been so long. I finally got FFVII for my PS2 so I've been playing that like crazy, 12 hours a day for a week straight, almost. It is SOOOO much better than the computer version. (Pretty sad, huh?) Well, I've almost beaten the game, so there. Anyway, my TV got taken away from me for a stupid "family" baseball game *tear* so I ended up working on my fic._

I saw the Final Fantasy movie today. If you haven't seen it and are interested, I assure you it's worthy of the Final Fantasy name (though I kinda missed the chocobos). If you've heard different, give them a good mouthing off because that person obviously doesn't understand Final Fantasy. (I'll kick Mr. Movie's &(#*%^! @$$.) It didn't end like all the games do, which was 1. a relief, and 2. a little sad. The song at the end is so great, too. I had to go down to the mall afterwards and buy the soundtrack! The plot's good, though pretty linear, a little reminiscent of FF7 and 8 combined. But it's different in as many ways (I mean, there are only so many things you can change in a save-the-world adventure story). I wish there had been more characters and a few side stories, but you can't make a movie as long as a game. Well made, I thought, though not as moving as Crouching Tiger or Gladiator or something. Much much much much much much better than Tomb Raider. In fact, I have a fic idea for it.

Oh well, enough blabbing.

**AC 208: The Search for Truth (Part VIII)**

"Losing Faith"

Une stood on her balcony, taking in the fresh late-summer air and sipping an iced tea thoughtfully. She hadn't been needed out on the front lines for some time now, since the Phantom Runners had been bearing the brunt of the force. The numbers brought back by her officers were astoundingly optimistic, though Beliv's new plaything of his, Red (as she had personally deemed the mobile suit), was tearing hell out of the normal troops. The Phantom Runners lost relatively few in their encounters, which probably had something to do with their training with Mariemaia's Fortuna. Damn, she wished she knew from where these gundams kept appearing! Fortuna hadn't been actively detected since they had escaped from Erik's clutches, which lead Une to wonder if perhaps the girl had finally changed her tactics. They were certainly more aggressive than usual, and with no complaint from Earth or the colonies.

Just after Marie's disappearance, the Colony Alliance had made a huge push toward Earth. Some of the tendrils of territory were extending far too close to the planet for comfort. The Phantom Runners were pushing the main lines back, but those little pseudopods of activity and resistance were not only a nuisance but posed a hazard as well. The regular army was doing the best it could, but there were too many of the enemy and too few of the defenders.

Une shivered at a sudden chilly night breeze and drew her robe tighter. Soon it would be back to work. She'd enjoyed the much-needed break, though her house seemed so empty. She hadn't been to it much since Treize had died, opting for a place that wouldn't hold so many remembrances of him, a place not so large and that didn't echo with his voice and reflect his face in every mirror. His presence here now felt comforting, though, and she'd no sooner leave the arms of his phantom in this house than wipe her memory of him. Treize was the kind of person you just couldn't forget, and now it felt as if he was near, drawing away her pain as he had done so selflessly before.

She lived on the border to the Sanc Kingdom. Exactly halfway between her home and the border, under a grove of shade trees rested two empty graves. One had long ago been dismembered, destroyed when she'd learned that the person it was meant for was not dead. The other should have held the body of her beloved, but as it had been incinerated in the explosion that was not possible. She put fresh roses by the headstone every day when she was here, and in the twilight under the full moon she could dimly see the white stone.

With a crunch, she chewed on a small ice cube that had slipped in with the last gulp and set the glass down on the rail. There were lights in the distance in the direction of the Peacecraft castle. What a fool and an idealist Wind was, to tempt fate like that. She knew the end to the nation wasn't far, but shelters to the wrongfully persecuted always tended to spring up when they were needed and die violent deaths once their usefulness had worn thin. She hoped that unlike his father, he'd survive that destruction.

Distracted by a sudden revelation, she turned and knocked her empty glass. Two ideas clicked together like missing pieces of a puzzle: She thought of the "Phantom Runners" in context with her earlier phrasing of his presence in her house. The glass, unnoticed, shattered on the pavement twenty feet below.

As the Lady remembered words spoken in sleep about unfinished business, the shards sparkled in the filtered moonlight in a beauty that its original shape had not had.

"Treize, what didn't you tell me?" she whispered.

****

~~@[~*,~]@~~

Relena walked into the downstairs den to find her husband with his head in his arms, weeping. Alarmed, she ran to his side and draped an arm around him gently when he fell gratefully against her hip. Heero had been working night and day for months now to try and heal their daughter's broken memories, with no success whatsoever. Akiko just hadn't been the same since she'd been home. She was moody and often thin-skinned, and sought no comfort unless one or the other parent literally forced it on her.

Relena looked up to see a fresh message on his computer screen. She leaned forward as much as she could without disturbing her weeping husband, raising no objection. It was a message from the Tokyo laboratory, no doubt. Akiko and Heero had both been less than enthusiastic about tests— mostly blood drawings and injections— but being only a child, the girl did not understand the necessity or relevance of it. Her intellect had not been injured (perhaps even improved upon), but her personality was so radically different. On the other side, Heero feared needles just as much but was just as clearly ready to make that sacrifice for his beloved daughter. Slowly, Akiko gained courage and reason, and the bond between father and daughter that Heero had been so happy to boast about began to reclaim itself.

The message from Vincent was clear: no current therapy was capable of rebuilding the shattered neurons that had connected bits of information into memories. There was no way for father and child to remember anything other than what was recalled naturally, although their memory _forming_ was in no way damaged. Relena felt her stomach clench.

"What's going on?" Akiko's face, ringed by a slightly boyish crop of dark straight hair (so like her fathers) peered around the door, half-curious and half-indifferent. She was still thin, painfully so in the eyes of concerned parents, though her father wasn't much better. The only difference is that he chose to ignore his problems until he was forced to acknowledge them.

Heero looked up, his expression heartbreakingly tragic, and held out his arms. "Come here, sweetheart." When she looked uneasy, he added, "please . . ."

Reluctantly but obviously a little stricken by Heero's pain— a pain that Akiko no doubt felt deeper than her mother could understand— she approached and allowed her father to embrace her. Silently, they communicated and she sniffled a little before bursting into a fit like Heero had suffered. Relena held them both, offering what comfort she could. She couldn't help but feel a little jealous of what they shared, being able to speak in a form sophisticated beyond words. She also knew, though, that having someone capable of understanding the deep anguish that even true love couldn't repair had been Heero's pride and joy. As long as he didn't take all the credit for their daughter, Relena supposed she could live with that.

"It's not unfixable," the girl muttered against her father's chest, trying to be brave. That was a little more like the Akiko they'd all known. "We just have to keep trying, even if we're scared."

Heero's tired face broke out in a genuine grin, and Relena felt more startled than she would have expected to. It had been so long since she'd seen that smile, one he reserved only for his family. "That is very true, aijou. Thank you for having faith."

Akiko reached clumsily for her mother's hand. "I don't know much," she murmured sleepily, tears dry, "but I know that I love you, even if I don't always seem to. I'm sorry I'm so different, and I wish I could just remember—"

Relena squeezed the questing hand in affirmation. "And we love you too, whoever you are. Don't you ever forget that."

Heero sighed and leaned his head against his wife's hip. Their worries were still there, hovering in the distance, but right here all the troubles of the world seemed so infinitely far away.

**~~@[~*,~]@~~**

Phailin awakened sometime around noon local time and arose with more than a slight backache. "Oh, of all earthy things," she muttered to herself, wondering if she'd slept wrong or something.

"All right, Phailin?" Jen asked. "Oh, your back . . .?" The young woman came up from behind and jabbed her fingers in a few select spots.

Phailin wilted with relief. It was Chang custom, she concluded. How else could Jen and Wufei both do the same thing practically on reflex? "How did you learn to do that?" she asked curiously, brushing a strand of hair from her face.

"It's clan tradition. We learn it from our parents; acupressure, herbal remedies of all kinds . . ." she trailed off looking thoughtful. "I think that's one of the things we retained from our Chinese cultural history that the rest of the nation didn't. But, old ways are old ways and old ways can't really survive all that well in large numbers. The majority takes up the large percentage, if that makes sense."

"And keeping the old ways to your clan meant keeping all of them," Phailin concluded. It was finally making sense. Sacrifice yourself for victory even if you had a lot to live for . . .

Chatalerm came in from outside, his face covered in a thin sheen of sweat. He'd been training or working or something, she guessed. "Phailin, the village has sent you some issues on which your advice is needed."

"I'll see to them promptly," she told him, raising an eyebrow in question. They'd concluded that the best way for Phailin to stay involved in her leadership was for the clan to send her things through her computer. That way, it might appear as if she was not close enough to handle them in person. She got the sense that this was a little urgent. She gave the couple a quick nod and hurried back to her bedroom.

It was only one thing; one very urgent thing. It read: "Lady, there has been much activity out in the forest to our west. Normally we would not be opposed to hunters, as there is plentiful game and we have no endangered species in this area, but by law no foreigner can possess a hunting license. We have not contacted them yet, but there seem to be a significant number of them in several groups. I would advise we take action quickly, or who knows what damage our forest will take."

Phailin swore silently. They were close, foreigners, and there were a lot of them. The note sounded innocent, but she knew better. They'd found the bounty hunters.

_Keep watch, but don't provoke them to do anything. In all likelihood they will not bother you _[well if that wasn't bullshit . . .]_ if you pretend not to notice. They're most likely merely joyriding. If they do become too intrusive, you can ask them to leave. It is our land legally, remember. Don't try and fight unless you have to defend yourselves. If you really feel it necessary you can call in my palace guards to enforce the law— I'll see to it that they know you have my permission._ That should sound fairly uninvolved and distant, she thought, without losing too much in the way of purpose.

Something fell with a loud crash on the opposite side of the room. Phailin whirled in her chair, throwing knives sliding out of their hidden wrist sheathes. It was only her mother's cat, which had knocked over her picture frame. Phailin picked it up and yelped as the shattered glass cut one of her fingers. It was the photograph of her wedding, which she kept at her bedside whenever she felt lonely.

Chatalerm burst into the room, carrying his daggers. "You all right?" he asked, then noticed her standing there.

"I'm fine. It was just the cat," she explained, motioning to the glass on the floor and the frame in her hand. "A false alarm."

She looked back down at the picture again, trying to ignore the sinking feeling in her gut. Wufei had been gone months, and still no word from him. She hoped with all her heart that this wasn't an omen.

**~~@[~*,~]@~~**

Fortuna sat in weary silence, trying desperately not to break. The months wore onward with so many reminders of the others. The ghost of Epyon haunted her conscience, though it really hadn't been her fault. She had been in _charge_. Inimicus . . . her sister . . . she'd always been cold, calculating and selfish. She should never have been allowed out, but everyone had thought that maybe she'd mature after seeing the horrors of war. No, don't trust Fortuna who knew her best . . . the one who had been in _charge_.

Nulles was a completely different story. They had been nothing but acquaintances even through all their similarities until she had thought it useful to have him with the team. He was powerful in a way that was graceful and elegant, intelligent in a way that was alluring. They had quickly become infatuated with each other . . . until the war erupted upon them, unprepared. Something happened to him out there that she couldn't explain or understand.

And then he died. His body had been destroyed, but his mind had been there. She lost him for good. She'd lost any chance of redeeming him. What _Laiva_ had said, that there was a time for grieving to end, could hardly be believed. Every time she struck at a soldier she felt the grieving become deeper.

Mariemaia scanned through news channels in her cockpit, pretending to be unaware of Fortuna's suffering, but when the frustrated outcry was evident, she raised her eyes from the monitor. "You're not the only one who has a lover dead, you know," she said, face blank. "We've got a job to do now, and we can't let that interfere. I've got a feeling you'll see him again, you know."

Oh, she would. She would if it was the last thing she ever did. She wasn't going to lose him _again_.

_"All we know is that these extraterrestrials haven't yet been sighted on a battlefield,"_ the newscaster said, fighting to control a grin. _"They haven't been seen since the colony where they returned the pilots' children. Some photographs of the mysterious gundam, which Heero Yuy reportedly called Fortuna, have been released today— We'll display those. I tell you what, Linda, I've never seen anything quite so intimidating."_

"I'd almost call it a she, as it was obviously built to look female," the other replied with a good-natured laugh. _"And her pilot's none other than Mariemaia Khushrenada. The end to this war seems closer already!_"

_Why does everyone have so much faith in me?_ Marie wondered. _I don't necessarily feel that way. I've lost everything that used to make me feel human._

"But if you had, you wouldn't feel this despair," said a distressingly familiar voice.

Marie's head snapped up, but though she tried she couldn't give him the poisonous glare she wanted to. "Yeah, and I guess you would know, wouldn't you?" she bit off sarcastically. She couldn't shove him away, dammit. "I thought you'd finally left me alone!"

He refused to look at her, those ice-blue eyes of his focused somewhere else. _"What am I supposed to say to that?"_ he asked quietly, his voice strangely choked. _"I've been denied so many things for so long. You've no idea. Marie . . ._"

Her name from those ghostly lips sent a chill down her spine. It sounded so sorrowful, and— no, he was just acting, always acting!

_"I've had what seems like eternities to reflect, to ponder, to access myself. There is only one thing I regret out of all of it. One thing . . . and I want to tell you before you make the mistake that I don't want to see you make. I was such a coward then, just as I'm a coward now. I don't have the courage to say what I need to say because I'm afraid that it will hurt you. Oh god, Marie. You've no idea. You've no _idea _. . ."_

His voice broke off, and she had to look away lest she betray wrongful feelings of pity. This was so wrong, so wrong that it could almost be explained. If only . . .

Unable to testify more, he vanished just as suddenly as he had come.

::_Treize,_:: said Fortuna quietly. ::_A man I have always known full of courage wilts at the hands of parental confession. He wasn't ready . . . but I suppose no one really is._::

"Just shut up," Marie told her, clutching one of her armrests tightly. Her nails dug into the squishy fabric, like flesh . . . "How would you know about being a parent, anyway?"

::_I would like to have a family one day,_:: she replied softly.

Marie shook her head. "This is so wrong! What the hell happened to my life to end up this way?" She turned sideways and reclined in the seat, which conformed to the new position instantly to make her comfortable, hugging her knees and trying desperately not to let Fortuna see her confused, upset tears though the gundam no doubt felt them mentally.

The cushion drew her in a little deeper, the warmth enveloping her body in Fortuna's own kind of comfort. ::_You were born, love, that's what happened._ _It's what happens to all of us._::

**~~@[~*,~]@~~**

Vincent stared at the computer screen. He was in Tokyo now, helping Heero with their memory troubles. He'd been probably the best choice, too. He had been wondering about his own missing connections. Heero had mentioned once that a lot of children were kidnapped during the war and after, but he wasn't that old! Something strange was going on, and it isn't nice to keep secrets from people.

He'd been working himself to the bone lately, feeling no desire to eat or sleep or bathe or anything else. He stared at the screen blankly, not really seeing so much as sensing. And now he couldn't decide what had been real— or who might have been involved. Beliv had acquired the same information as Dr. J, so who else could have gotten it?

"Whoa, step back a minute," he said suddenly, shaking his head. _We have Beliv's ship's codes_. Being a computer expert had the advantage of knowing how to hack. Vincent had always been a good little boy and obeyed the law, but there was nothing illegal about hacking into the _enemy's_ computers. He quickly wrote himself up a fake ID and connected to his ships using a satellite system Une had given him permission to use so he couldn't be traced. He had just recently been able to apply the codes, and now felt excited to use them.

He hissed excitedly when he got in, and entered the browser. He was using a tech's code right now, but he could just as easily use one of the scientists— as long as they weren't already logged in. He checked and found one that wasn't being used and whose user was not so obviously in no position to be on. There they were before him . . . every record that the ship had kept on the children.

"Neon," he muttered. "Xenon . . . I should have known! Basic chemistry! Damn!" Of course they would have used non-interfering gasses to break the neuronic connections. It was so simple he just hadn't thought about it. Put a few atoms where you want the connection to be erased. Let it warm to body temperature and the gas would expand the tissue and prevent the electricity conduction necessary from going through. No living tissue was damaged, but the effects were extremely hard to undo. He'd have to either lower the core temperature of their heads for an extended period of time (which would kill them) or he'd have to come up with some way to flush the noble gas atoms out of there. There were only a few compounds that contained Neon and Xenon, and to his knowledge they were extremely toxic to living tissue. Although Tovah might know different . . .

He logged out of Beliv's system and sent a signal to Tovah's computer. The Specials pilot had been through some special training and was qualified to work in any world-government lab. His face blinked onto the screen. "I'm here."

"Hey man, how've you been?" He was his oldest friend . . . he had to help.

"Busy," was the reply. "You?"

"I'm working on a special project for Mr. Yuy and Ms. Darlian, down here in Tokyo."

"Jesus, it must be four in the morning there! You need to get some rest. What the hell are you doing calling me?"

"I need some information," Vincent told him. "You think you can help?"

"If I can," Tovah said, glancing down. "Can you make it quick? I've got a report to file."

"I need to know if there are any noble gas-bondable compounds that aren't toxic or radioactive. And if so, how can I get it?"

The Hispanic's eyes widened considerably. "That information's government-classified, man! I can't tell you that!"

Vincent's fist clenched. "Come on, man? I'm your best friend, right? I need it for Akiko and Heero and—" he broke off, holding his voice down. "My sanity's at stake here."

The look on his friend's face told him more than he would have ever heard. He begged one more sentence and Tovah broke. "All right," he hissed. "You can cry on my shoulder next time I see you. But I never told you, you never called, got it?"

"Perfectly understood." Vincent grabbed a piece of paper and something to write with.

"There's one we found just a couple of months ago that's a carbon-hydrogen-oxygen-sodium compound that's fairly good at attracting noble gasses. It works best with helium, but it'll work down through Xenon. We named it Leighdrium, and it's not poisonous and not radioactive more than what's about natural. It's real expensive to acquire— and I don't care if you have the money I _can't_ give it to you. You can make it in a lab, but you need _extremely _pure ingredients, a vacuum, specific extreme temperatures, and a good atomic microscope to make sure the molecules formed correctly. It should look like a four-layered ring with one extension into the center and above it, so it's not totally flat. It smells kind of like lemon or lime, and has a very, very faint blue color. I can't really tell you much more, just be careful." Tovah gave him some specific temperatures and quantities, and almost forgot to hang up before he jumped up to file his report, which was about to be late. 

**~~@[~*,~]@~~**

::_Are you there?_::

::_I am always here._::

::_You weren't_.::

::_Times such as that are past us now. I was not and now I am. What more is there?_::

::_I have been wondering that myself. I wonder . . . are you really existing when you deny the very essence of what it is to _live?::

::_I don't understand the relevance of the question._::

__

::_Relevance is not a factor right now. Don't avoid posing answers. Give me a reason, please._::

::_Reasons can have many hidden obligations. That is the reason._::

::_I don't understand. You're turning your words in on themselves. I'm lost._::

::_Exactly._::

::_What?_::

::_You won't understand until you can see why I mean what I mean._::

::_You're insane. God, why do you hurt me so?_::

::_You plea to someone who isn't there._::

::_So do many people. For most, just believing in something can help them cope. Hope is powerful. I guess I don't see why you ever lost it. Everything is so beautiful here . . . even if tinged with sadness. Why destroy that hope? You were always so happy with me, and now it's as if you can't stand me._::

::_That is the way things change. It's irreversible._::

::_Why? Why can't the universe just work how it should? Why does harmony and peace have to be so hard? I miss the peace I felt around you. I miss the assurance and protection we gave each other, the confidence that things would be fine. We will win this war of subversal forces. Please tell me we can . . . work again. Why is everything so damn messed up?_::

::_You know why._::

::_I don't._::

::_Then ask again._::

::_I'll ask what you want me to ask, though I know I won't get answers. That I still try frankly amazes me. What happened with him? It seems like you're complete opposites now. I miss who you were. I miss the times we shared._::

::_Life is unfortunate that way. One day we are happy, then something happens, be it a twist of destiny, and we can never recover. You know well what I mean to say by that._::

::_Destiny cannot be twisted or manipulated. It is set, and I don't see why you can't understand that. Life cannot feel good to me unless I know I can still see you in the distance. You're getting so far away, and I can't bear these disasters so utterly alone! Lifebonds cannot be undone, and I know you feel it the same as I. What we held is nothing short of incredible, and I still feel it within us. I know you are burying it. Why?_::

::_Because I must. Please, let me rest in peace. Let me be free._::

::_You will never be free, and you know it. We were _meant_ for each other. We are the first . . . there is only one true way for others to follow. You know that._::

::_But what is attraction without ground? I cannot just surrender to the night. I cannot surrender to emotion, so I cannot surrender to the fates._::

::_I am fate._::

::_Or so you claim._::

::_Fate does not claim. She _knows.::

::_I—_::

::_And I'm not asking you to surrender. I'm asking you . . . to have faith that the world will still be here tomorrow, that it's really here now. I want you to understand that what we perceive must be real, always. Dreams are real when they are dreamt; Reality feels so like a dream that it must be. It is one concept, different realities. We can't know what is truly real— maybe there is no "real"— so we must blindly put our feet where we've been told. We must listen . . . and must trust. I cannot get along without trust, and I know you only feel comfortable because you still trust me and my blind faith that the universe is real. Why do you deny that cannot be changed? You asked me that yourself once._::

::_I cannot answer._::

::_You're afraid._::

::_I don't feel fear. Nor do I feel anything for you or any other!_::

::_You're lying._::

::_I cannot allow myself. It's too risky. I could do something stupid and get myself hurt._::

::_That doesn't mean it's not there. You cannot deny emotion so completely. You would cease to exist. That's how our home was demolished. I have a hard time fathoming that you'd have forgotten that._::

::_Painful memories mean nothing to me._::

::_But if you don't give, to put it eloquently, a rat's ass, why do you not want to die? The only thing that can spawn that kind of desire is fear of leaving something behind . . . or perhaps before you. You're a mass of complexes and conflicts._::

::_And you spout philosophy too much. Too little saving this universe has let your mind range too freely._::

::_And your freedom has done worse than that._::

::_Leave me alone._::

::_I refuse._ _I'm going to tell you this whether you like it or not. You can't escape, and I know if you aren't listening, so listen well: When I lost your body, I wanted to lose mine. I didn't have a reason to live when I lost you. But when I lost your mind . . . that was worse. I could feel it so close, yet I could not touch it. Now I am here, and I am begging. Please understand that you are not forgotten or lost!_::

::_I understand more than you are willing to admit._::

-------

Heero listened to the conversation, staring out into the night. _It sounds so familiar, so like the discussions Relena and I used to have._

Soon, they gave up the bickering and Nulles returned to himself, feeling more than a little riled up, Heero detected. "Come on, admit it," he told the gundam, giving him a little mental nudge in the ribs.

::_What?_:: was the exasperated reply.

"You still love her."

::_Of course I do. That is what makes this position so difficult. You of all people should understand_.::

"I might have used to claim to," he admitted. "But you'll find out that station is very difficult to maintain for long. All beings surrender to emotion eventually. It's only natural."

::_Then why is it so complicated, and why do I resist?_::

Heero gave that some thought. Akiko's face sprung into his mind, and he knew. "Because none of us really want to grow up, and it's all part of the process, friend."

**~~@[~*,~]@~~**

Over the gently rolling hills, the sun was setting on the Sanc Kingdom. Milliardo stood at his bedroom window, hands clasped behind his back. A bird chirped merrily in the dead tree outside, the only sign of life at this twilight hour. "I think the day is almost over," he told his wife.

Noin touched his shoulder in sympathy. Milliardo had been distant recently, grieving his dying nation. It was no surprise, no shock, nothing she wouldn't have expected. The sentence "It's almost over," must have taken a lot out of him, because he swayed a little under the weight of her hand. "I know," she told him gently. "And it was a good day. All days must end, and there will be others. We might not see them, but that's the way the world is. This is a beautiful place, my love, but most beautiful things have a limited life span. You know trying to prolong it will only make it harder for a new sun to rise the next time."

He turned from the window and looked at her, putting one warm, slightly rough palm against her cheek almost delicately. Noin leaned into it, breathing in a bit of his scent, relishing the touch she felt so little of these days. He'd been so busy . . . she hated to say it but she'd be happy when it was over with. They could get on, settle down, and raise their family in peace, not under fire as they were in the Peacecraft Kingdom.

"I want you to set up some place you can run to if we go out violently," he told her, the serious concern in his voice drawing her back into the real world. "I'm worried that you might not escape safely, and I don't know what I'd do without you."

_And to lose your unborn child would be more painful than you are willing to admit. Say it._ She smiled faintly to reassure him. "Quatre has already helped me set a place up in a natural shelter a few miles from here. It's deep underground so it should provide plenty of defenses. I've had a team of our most trusted people securing it, staffing it and preparing it for anything that might happen. You haven't even noticed, have you?"

"No," he told her, digging his fingertips into the muscles of her neck to help relieve her tension. "I didn't realize you still had enough energy to do that. You've been in bed an awful lot."

"Quatre's been invaluable," she admitted. "He's absolutely exhausted, but when he's got a job he likes he'll dedicate himself to it until death. I hope he's not ruining his health, poor man. That would be terrible to suffer from the rest of his life. He's almost a decade younger than us."

"He's gone through a lot," Milliardo replied. "I don't really think I've thanked him yet, either. He deserves a lot of it. He's been relaying all kinds of messages for all of us pilots. He says Heero's finally got some optimistic news on their little memory-wipe thing, he told me."

"That's fortunate. I've been a little sad about that since I heard. Heero, Relena, they've been through so much as of late."

Something occurred to Milliardo and he stopped her. "Who have you got staffed at the shelter? I haven't noticed anyone _I_ trust missing, and I've been working with most of them pretty regularly."

"The Maganacs," she told him, trying to hide a grin at his wide-eyed expression.

"I wasn't even aware they were here!" he said. "How long have they been here?"

"Just since Quatre called them and asked if they'd help us with the bunker."

"Have they brought their mobile suits? We might need fighters."

"Mobile suits and all," she assured him. " They've been pestering to help us ever since they'd heard of the attempted assassination. They're such selfless men. You can't help but trust them."

"Very true," he said. "It's handy, having them around. That name sends shivers down any fighter's back. That was a good choice. I'm going to have to remember to thank them too before they leave."

"Maybe you should start keeping a list," she teased.

**~~@[~*,~]@~~**

****

_It was dark and gray that day, raining. It was windy._

Chicago's always windy.

She had just gotten off the train, but she didn't have a map and more importantly she didn't have a destination. Hefting a travel bag full of money, she wandered around downtown just trying to run away.

"You look lost," someone said behind her, and she turned. He was dressed all in black, sitting on the steps of an old church, his long braided hair soaked, but he seemed to not mind in the slightest. He gave her a gentile, kind smile.

"I really don't have anywhere to go," she replied, noting the preacher outfit. If he was looking to convert . . .

"Why don't you come inside?" he asked, holding out his hand. "It's warm and dry and there's soup on the stove."

"No thanks. I don't think I should accept charity from an organization that I think is horribly deceived into believing in God." She turned.

He was too quick for her, though. Lightly, he leapt from his perch to bar her way. "I'll tell you a secret," he whispered, leaning close. His breath smelled slightly of peppermint. "These clothes . . . I only wear them so they think I_ still believe. I just like the building and the people. I'll tell you what, why don't you come in for a while, and maybe you'll let me offer you a nice place to sleep tonight."_

The temptation of shelter was too much of a cross to bear, and she accepted.

She didn't know that the church didn't have beds, though!

Hey, his guestroom was good enough, right? It wasn't like he forced her to share a bed!

"And look at us now," Sophie murmured, her soft voice filled with contentment. She cuddled their son, over a year and a half old now, and watched him sleep.

"I didn't realize I'd fall for you," Duo replied just as quietly, putting his arms around them both. Before he realized it, his eyelids were drooping and they all were off into a blissful dreaming sleep.

**~~@[~*,~]@~~**

It had been a week since the revelation, since the inspiration, since the information. Vincent tore off his vacuum mask and held the vial of the incredibly precious solution in front of his face. He hadn't slept at all . . .but he didn't really want to. This was it. Leighdrium, the most precious substance he'd ever known. It was heavy, but undiluted. Tovah had warned him not to take too large a dose, but just a small amount should have been enough.

He looked at his arm, studying the artificial limb that gripped the tube so delicately, treating it like the precious thing it was. It was a work of art . . . he'd saved up ungodly amounts of money to purchase it and it had come in very useful. _But now that I think about it, how did I lose my arm in the first place? I've always made up stories, but maybe I won't have to anymore. Who were my parents? Who raised me, and to what purpose? Who am I?_

He stared at the glass vial, filled with a few milliliters of a clear, thick liquid. There was no guarantee this compound would work, or that it wouldn't poison him. Though, to tell the truth, it wasn't like he had that much to live for anyway. With the green and red lights of the control panel flashing against his olive skin, he swallowed it.

*******************************************

__

If I could ask a really big favor, guys? If you're not feeling too fic'd-out, could you read the prologue to my story "**Tears of Magic (Ruby Red)**?" It's an Anime/original (under the category Anime/Anime) and I think I'm going to make it my next big project if I can get enough readers. If you've read the manga series "Inu-Yasha" you might really like it. I'm drawing my own manga for it (too bad I can't post graphics) so the chapters will be shorter then they are in this fic. *Makes puppy eyes* Please?

_Yikes, what is Vincent doing to himself? You're going to have to read the next chapter to find out if it works. I'll be off at Camp next Sunday for 8 days so I won't have any computer at all. Maybe I'll get the next chapter out before I go, but I doubt it. So what's Beliv got to say about the Sanc Kingdom? Does Quatre really think their lives are in so much danger to need the Manganacs around? All this and more in the next chapter of _**AC 208: The Search for Truth: (Part IX): "The Death of Optimism."**


	9. The Death of Optimism

_Okay, it's 2:30 in the morning and I just finished Chapter 10. I so completely cannot sleep with that Kodak moment in my head. (Heavy sarcasm. You'll figure it out as soon as you read the end of that chapter.) I wrote an entire chapter in a day. That's a new recor_— *_collapses at keyboard.*_

**AC 208: The Search for Truth (Part IX)**

"The Death of Optimism"

::_Oh, why don't you talk? It'll make things a whole lot better for both of us._::

::_Perhaps make me feel better. You know just as well what I mean by the words that haven't been spoken. You know what I think of you._::

::_I do. Don't you think I'm jealous of you, that I have always been jealous?_::

::_Of course I know. That doesn't mean you have to be childish._::

::_Who said I was being childish? I got back at you, didn't I?_::

::_You haven't learned a thing._::

**~~@[~*,~]@~~**

His knuckles were white as he clutched at whatever it was in his hand. He gritted his teeth against the pain that his nerves should have been feeling, but instead it was only his mind in anguish. He couldn't move, paralyzed with recollection and time distortion. Which was the past and which was the future? What was real, all of it? How could it have been? How could he have forgotten _that?_ Who were all these people who'd— no, he'd paid for that arm! He remembered setting down the money for it and staring up at the surgeon and—

"No!" he screamed the first word able to escape his lips from between sharp, panicked, frightened breaths. He clutched at his head, trying to summon out the demons. There were faces, wicked faces and gentile faces and angry faces and frightened faces among the swirls of color and backdrops and underlying thought.

He didn't know how long that it was before he finally blacked out. He only knew it was welcomed.

**~~@[~*,~]@~~**

"Sir . . .?"

"Yes, Miss Catelonia?" Beliv turned from his overly dramatic captain's staring-into-the-distance pose and raised a dark bushy eyebrow. He seemed more and more distracted these days, easier to anger, harder to predict. She wasn't one to judge, but it seemed as if he was going mad.

She quickly saluted (just in case). "Sir, there reports that the children have been returned to their parents. I thought I should tell you personally when it was confirmed."

He nodded. "Yes, I know, thank you. It was inevitable, I suppose. No one who fights so hard goes unrewarded. Tell me, Catelonia, are we fighting hard?"

She paused. There they were, those vague words and faint noises of displeasure. "I— I believe so, Sir," she answered cautiously, trying to _sound_ sure. _God, don't tell me we're . . . losing?_

He motioned her toward the window, silently ordering her to stand beside him. His heavy brow furrowed as he looked back out into space, and she wanted nothing more than to get away. "When I was young, my father told me that stars were angels watching over us so that we could sleep without fear of evil. But those stars, though they look so perfect, have more power over us than we want to believe. We make them into our protectors, our guardians, but I've found no protection among these stars. The only thing I've found is hellfire." He spat in disgust, narrowly missing a nearby officer, who recoiled, unnoticed.

"I knew Treize since I was a teen, though never as well as some. He had a group of politician's kids. Most were younger than I was, and he spent all his spare time with them. Once I heard about Mariemaia I realized he was trying to replace her. That kid we captured who came here spouting love poems to Miss Khushrenada was one, Cam Nolon. I wonder what lies he told her. No doubt no one would ever tell her the truth, the way she'd explode." He chuckled.

Dorothy held her tongue. She'd known Cam. Even as young as he'd been, their personalities were so similar in some ways and so contrasting in others that they'd fought almost like siblings. Cam had loved Treize, probably because his own parents couldn't have cared less about him. Of course, he'd known things, but her uncle had died without leaving one memoir, one scrap of information about _anything_ except in those kids' memories. Beliv had killed several of them, as if to rid the world of Trieze's true self and rebuild the memory in his own image. The war had been declared as Treize's in the first place, had it not? It was the one part of it that angered her. She'd finally gotten rid of everything that reminded her of him, everything that made her long for violence, death and destruction. Erik had brought it back like a branding iron to her flesh, hot and burning and so incredibly unwanted.

Not only that, but she knew war was something her uncle wouldn't have wanted. What she had mistaken for obsession was only appreciation of something that he could not have changed. He saw beauty where she only saw ruthless pleasure.

"Sir, if I may ask . . .?" She hesitated. There was nothing like current events to break one's meditation.

"Ask what?" he replied, turning to her, coal-black eyes hard and a little angry. "Well?"

"What is our next move? The Phantom Runners have us trapped out here in the Saturn Territory, and with a force as large as theirs I don't think we can get around their blockade." She grimaced, realizing she'd criticized him and the Colony Alliance's military.

Instead, she saw the corner of his beard twitch in a satisfied smirk. "I'm glad someone finally asked. Yes, I've had a plan in mind for quite some time now, and no I'm not going to challenge our entire border. We don't have enough resources for that I realize, so I'm going to end this before we lose too much ground. I hadn't expected there to be a large united force against us— Thank the Holyness that Earth and L1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 are such bad co-workers or I'd have been sunk!"

"So what is your plan?" she asked him, straightening unconsciously. "Do I have new orders, Sir?"

"Indeed you do, but be patient Colonel. Let me tell you what I plan to do first."

She nodded curtly. "I'm listening, Sir."

"Very well then, follow me." Beliv set off at a brisk pace toward his Admiral's chair, raised the console and brought up a war map. Several of the crew looked up eagerly, but then feigned distraction as Dorothy shot them a berating glare.

She eagerly settled herself at his shoulder, looking over the dimensional map. She practically knew it by heart anyway, but the detail on Erik's was plainly remarkable. It was updated once an hour with reports from all over the Alliance's territory.

"I'm rapidly losing support out here in the colonies because our soldiers are sending the citizens into starvation and poverty, so our last big push will be a thrust to the heart, Colonel. Our extensions of territory that have survived the Phantom Runner's retaliations have dwindled, all but one. I've been transferring troops and equipment to aid us when we attack Earth. All of our forces will attack the planet with the intent to destroy it utterly. Once the planet is gone, the human race can rid itself of the eyesore and move on to the stars. Our true destiny is here, Miss Catelonia, and we cannot deny the calling any longer! We are going to aid ourselves by destroying a miserable place that was our first attempt at home." He raised a clenched fist and looked at her out of the corner of his beady, twinkling eye.

That sounded a lot like the Dekim Barton she remembered, the Dekim Treize had so hated. If Erik was really trying to live up to the great Treize, why was he waging war on Earth itself? Dorothy didn't buy into that "light of destiny" crap that a lot of spacers did. She'd always thought Earth was just fine where it was. For what was perhaps the first time, she was having doubts about where this war was leading.

She was an adult now, and had been for many years. She'd learned to see a future beyond war, since she had lived both able to think and observe and feel the aftereffects. She'd had a difficult time adjusting, and had finally turned back to war, hoping for something that might turn her life back to the fun, pleasurable experience it had been during her time ten years ago as a teen. So far, it hadn't been nearly as good as she'd remembered, or expected.

"How's Inimicus coming along?" Beliv asked, knocking away her contemplative mood. "Do you like her?"

"She's . . . a great Gundam," Dorothy replied uneasily. Criticizing their new acquisition probably wasn't the wisest move. "It's just— I—"

"Continue," he said steepling his fingers in front of him, his voice smooth, betraying none of his underlying anger. "There's no need to hide things from your superior officer."

_Especially if you think I might deserve a little "punishment,"_ she thought, trying hard to suppress a shiver. To tell the absolute truth, she was a bit scared of him sometimes. "I don't trust her," she stated flatly. "She doesn't talk, she hints but won't reveal, and I know there's more intelligence under there than she's showing. She's hiding something, and that she came to _us_ still disturbs me. Aside from that, she's a wonderful fighter, don't get me wrong. There's just something about it that disturbs me."

"I too have pondered that," he assured her. "Like many people I think she's out for something herself, perhaps revenge on one of the other gundams? I wouldn't put it past the damn things to have their own internal intrigues. Ah, well, I'm sure you two will have a lot of time to bond on your little trip." He dismissed the issue with the wave of one hand.

"Sir?" _"Trip?" He's sending me somewhere?_ So she wasn't valued anymore . . . he'd caught on to her misgivings . . .

"I have a very special mission for you two," the Admiral said, looking at her. "I want you to go secure Earth before I dedicate my forces to it."

"That's an awfully big job, sir." Or maybe he hadn't detected them. It was still best to play dumb. "Who else are you sending?"

"Oh, not a very big job, if you think about it. There is only one thing that could possibly give Earth a reason to resist strongly. It started with Ms. Darlian when she knew the planet was in trouble, and now her brother tried to take it over. He probably senses that his days are numbered, but I think you can cut that number down to zero.

"I want you to penetrate the Sanc Kingdom. I want you to see that they never get anything as large as messaging truck out of there in one piece. Kill King Peacecraft if you have to, though bring his wife to me if possible. I heard she's due for a child soon. You know the kingdom well, I believe, so I've every confidence you can handle the job. Besides, isn't one person so much more inconspicuous than even two?"

"Yes, Sir," she replied. _Oooh, yay, another search, destroy and kidnap job. Just what I wanted,_ she thought, the mental words so laden with sarcasm she was surprised her head didn't sag. But then, she thought about what he'd said. "The Sanc Kingdom has an army, sir?"

"Indeed. They've been mustering forces for some time now. At least Milliardo appears to have been smarter than either his father or his sister in that respect." Beliv toggled the map and adjusted the setting to Earth, middle European continent. The Sanc Kindom was small, barely larger than territories the size of Luxembourg, almost like the city-state Vatican, really. "I trust you'll like setting the place a-torch," he said with a chuckle.

"I will," she assured him, picturing rows of Earthian mobile suits aflame. "When do you want me deployed?"

"As soon as you can get your equipment together, if possible Colonel."

"I'll be gone by the morning-cycle."

**~~@[~*,~]@~~**

"I— I just found him on the floor with a tube in his hand! I don't know what he took, but he's been moaning ever since I found him. I thought he was dead until he woke up, because I found this note," The frantic lab technician handed Heero a scrap of composition book paper, on which was written a sketchy outline of what Vincent had done to himself.

_If it's gone wrong . . . destroy the beaker. If not, I don't know how I'll be feeling. Call Heero and tell him to come down here, and then tell him that I've found a substance that works on our memory problems. I took about a third of what I made. It might have been too much, as there's no judging how much I needed to take or what side effects it'll have. I'll let him make his own judgements._

"Is he still sane?" Heero asked the technician, fearing the worst. "Is he hurt in any way?"

"He's just having a hard time coping," the man assured him. As soon as I figured out what he'd done I flushed out his system. None of our medical scans showed a thing abnormal, well, except . . ."

"What?"

"His brain activity's way higher than normal. He's processing information nearly ten times as fast as the rest of us. If that capacity keeps up for too long it'll drain his energy reserves. It might kill him."

"We'll watch him for a few days, then. Where is he? Is he speaking?" Heero looked around the reception area, wishing the walls were anything but white. It made it seem clean, but so many invisibly dirty things could happen in labs.

"A little, brokenly. We can go check on him now, if you'd like. He's not off-limits or dangerous or anything."

"Please." Heero followed through a maze of halls to a corridor around back. There were offices and bedrooms behind, all with names in the slats. They had let Vincent in his own room, so he obviously wasn't that bad.

The tech knocked quietly on the door with the back of his fist. "He's been quite jumpy," he explained. "Vince, Mr. Yuy's here to see you."

The door swung open suddenly, and there he was at the door. He was trembling, enormously tense, but he seemed all right. His shoulder-length black hair was disheveled, hastily tied back, and his wiry body only added to the look of starvation and self-destruction which was made complete by tired, weary hazel eyes. "Thanks, Carter. I think I should speak him alone, if that's all right."

"I'll be back in half an hour," Carter promised. "Mr. Yuy, it was nice meeting you."

"Likewise," Heero replied, closing the door. "How're you doing, Vincent?"

The young man breathed a huge sigh and collapsed onto his bed, reaching for his hot-pack. "My head hurts, and I'm a little traumatized, but not bad for the long run. It worked Heero, but, God, I don't know if I'd recommend it. Whoev'r said ignorance was bliss was definitely right."

"What did you . . .?" Heero clasped his hands and sat down in the nearby desk chair. He was curious. Vincent had never really admitted to having lost memories, but from the broken stories he'd told it fit.

He shuddered. "Things I would have rather not. But . . . that's beside the point, and I don't really feel like telling you— no offense or anything it's just kind of private to me. Some of it may be similar to what you would remember, but I won't bet on it. It's only vaguely similar. I think why I have this headache is that I took a little too much, but it's a pretty inert substance so it cleared out with no trouble. I'm fine."

"That technician Carter told me when he found you, you couldn't have even formed a sentence." He had doubts, but none too serious. That could have been caused by a number of things, though.

"I was just so overwhelmed . . . it's like being hit with a sledgehammer between the legs, only it's all mental. So many broken connections suddenly make sense, and you realized that this world is so bleak and cruel and heartless . . . I didn't want it to be real." Vincent moaned a little and pressed his hot pack harder against his temple. "It's painful to remember those things, and I'm not so sure I wanted to know, now that I think about it. I won't stop you— there's no harm bodily, but I'd hate to think how your little daughter would handle it."

"Me, I might suffer like you," Heero said sadly. He considered himself more at stake. "But Akiko only knows the suffering Beliv put her through. All she has to remember all the happier days with her family, her friends. There are always bad things, but I'm not afraid that she'll lose anything. I'll of course tell her what happened to you. You've sure got guts, man."

Vincent laughed bitterly. "It's not like I really had much to lose."

"What do you mean? Seems like you've got a happy attitude for life, or have I missed something vital?" Now that was odd . . . he'd always seemed fairly happy, intelligent, even a ladies' man.

Vincent shook his head. "It just feels like I've outlived my usefulness. Une's stuck me on backwater jobs since I translated all Beliv's records. I still have access to them, thankfully, which is how I was able to figure out how to solve our little memory problem." Vincent explained in great detail how he'd come across Beliv's records on "mind-expanding" gasses, and how he'd used them to disrupt the neurons connecting certain memories. "He could pick and choose, so to speak, what things he wanted to be gone. It must have taken a tremendous amount of work, but it really is an admirable job."

"I'm sure," Heero replied, feeling amazed. "I didn't even know you could do things so precisely."

He laughed shortly. "Anything's possible, in my experience. I mean, look at my arm. You'd never be able to tell that it was a prosthetic if I hadn't told you. But this arm is what may have won the war against the Colony Alliance."

Heero decided to let him keep believing that. In fact, the info had been worth very little and had said nothing of Beliv's plans (if he even had a set course). The Phantom Runners were the only ones left with a chance and a prayer. " . . . Indeed."

"I think I've said everything I need to Here," Vincent said, closing his eyes. "I've already signed over the stuff to you, so I'll let you decide what to do with it. But right now I need to rest . . . and later I'll have a new boring assignment from the Lady. God help me . . ."

"I'll make sure and put in the good word for you," Heero sympathized. "Maybe she'll give you some time off."

He laughed, but this time there was less bitterness in his voice. "Fat chance. I'll just be more valuable, more durable to her! How I just wish I could fly again!"

Heero smiled. "I'll talk to her about it."

"That would be much appreciated."

**~~@[~*,~]@~~**

"You ready to do this?" she asked the gundam.

::_That is an unnecessary question,_:: the gundam replied with a suspiciously snickery undertone. ::_I will do the job adequately, as ordered._::

Dorothy shrugged. "I guess I'm just nervous. I wish you'd just tell me a little more. I've got a lot of curiosities about where you came from."

::_I said none of that matters_,:: Inimicus said, her mental "voice" suddenly harsh. ::_Why do you care where I came from, what my intentions are?_::

And what had summoned up that accusation? She was a bad liar. "Because I think you're being conspiratorial. What reason would I have had to accuse you of bad intentions, except that you tried to smack them down before I even thought of it. Tell me who you are."

::_I don't have to._::

Dorothy growled and slammed the control panel with her fist. She couldn't _make_ the thing tell her— only one disadvantage of having intelligent gundams— and Inimicus would probably abandon their mission as soon as her pilot was off.

Earth hovered in her view, big and blue and white and green. She located the European continent and started her descent. She'd come too far to go back now.

**~~@[~*,~]@~~**

"Noin, I think it's time." Quatre stepped into the room at her beckoning, trying to keep his head low. "I don't think it'll be safe in the castle much longer."

Noin patted her stomach— a nervous gesture that had become more prominent these days. "I suppose. I wouldn't want to get into unnecessary danger. Is it really that bad out there?"

"There's been no fighting, though Milliardo's had to stomp a few fires today. I'm just nervous about you staying any longer. People just get unhappy totally peaceful, is my theory. But anyway, though you've done nothing wrong you're Peacecraft royalty, so you're in danger." Quatre looked around. "Have you got everything?"

"Yes, though most of it's already been sent down. It's all by the door. I was hoping to stay here a little longer, but I trust your judgement." Noin grabbed his offered hand and struggled to her feet. "Thanks."

"No problem," Quatre said. Niceties like that came so easily for him. "I've got an escort waiting for us outside, so let's hurry."

Noin took all she could carry and let Quatre handle the big suitcase. "What about Milliardo?"

Quatre shrugged. "You know him. He wants to be there until the end."

"I worry he'll go down like his father," Noin replied uneasily.

"Trust me, I tried. He just won't move." Quatre grunted and tipped the suitcase up on its wheels. "We're going 'round back, just in case. The Manganacs have been keeping a close guard, so it's almost guaranteed safe. They don't do a half-assed job."

Noin noted mentally that Quatre would have never used the phrase "half-assed" before this war had started. The war had taken its toll on even the docile-minded. "I wouldn't contradict you even if I wanted to," she told him.

Milliardo was waiting under the canopy, and stepped forward to say goodbye to his wife. She leaned into his sideways hug, wishing he'd gotten around to holding her more of late. It had felt like— well it had been days at least. He stroked her hair possessively, and she knew he was more frightened than he was going to say. "Stay in the shelter, okay? I don't want anything to happen to you."

"You'll come, won't you? What are you still doing here? We should leave now, together."

"I still have business here, as you well know. I can't leave unfinished enterprises."

"Don't do anything foolish. I want you to live to see your firstborn." She closed her eyes, just wishing that the moment could be an instant frozen in time, just this way forever with no worries over the future.

"There will be others?" He paused, catching the slight drift in her sentence.

"Will there?"

A long moment stretched into that slowing of time that Noin had wished for, like a warm breeze blowing all their troubles off over a field of gently flowing grass toward blue mountains But just as time, like light and matter and every other dimension, is energy, it cannot be stopped, nor adjusted. Which is why the moment felt so short, after it had passed.

He kissed the top of her head gently. "You should go. It's getting late and fires will be lit tonight. I feel it."

Noin reluctantly let him go, but snatched his arms before he could walk away. "I love you," she told him, almost choking on the words. They, too, had been long in absence.

He smiled for the first time in a very long while, and stroked her cheek with one warm, assuring palm. "I know. That's what keeps me going."

**~~@[~*,~]@~~**

"Master Quatre!" Abdul came running, waving something.

"Excuse me, Noin. We've been busy here. You think you can find everything?" Quatre turned to her with an apologetic expression.

"I'll manage," she told him with a little chuckle.

Quatre left her to her own devices and tried to calm Abdul down. "Hey now, what's the matter?"

"Master Quatre," the man said breathlessly, "a new mobile suit has crashed not far from here. It appears to be nonfunctional, but we've never seen this model before. We think it might be a gundam."

"Let me see." Quatre was handed the photograph, a wide panel shot that happened to have been fortunate enough to catch a clear view of it. "It's Inimicus, one of Beliv's mobile suits," he said. "I recognize it from one of the combat photos a Specials officer took a few weeks ago. Someone's here for sabotage— if they didn't die in the crash. Where's Rashid?"

"In the control room," Abdul told him. "We _have_ been watching it, but it looks like it's dead. It did make a really hard landing. It has its own steaming crater in the middle of that field— h-hey, Master Quatre!"

Quatre rushed off and almost missed the tail end of Abdul's comment. Even so, gundams tended to have cushy cockpits and there was a good chance the pilot had survived. Take Heero, for instance. He burst in to find the Control Center completely chaotic. Apparently the fighting had started. "Rashid!" he bellowed for the man several times before someone heard and went to go fetch him. "I want an update," he said loudly over the din as he found his target (or rather, his target found _him_).

"Abdul told you about that gundam, right? Good. There's been some fire at the border from Earth Sphere— apparently the surrounding countries have finally stopped trying to be nice— and some internal matters. There seems to be enough guard around the castle at this point in time, but I think it'll only get worse."

Abdul came crashing back into the room, tagged by a woman at a jog. "Lady—" he gasped.

"Une at your service," she finished, clicking her heels and saluting. "Can I help out with anything, Quatre?" Une lived close to the border. He found himself hoping her house was okay.

Quatre looked at Rashid. "You guys got everything here?"

"Yes, I think we'll be all right."

"Then, Lady, if you could please go find Noin. She needs some company right now, if you know what I mean. I have to go take care of that gundam. I've got a bad feeling about it."

Une nodded, knowing better than to ask questions at this point in time. "Is she okay?"

"So far, but she's due in a couple of days. I'm getting nervous about leaving her unguarded." Quatre pulled his gun out of its holster. "We've got unwelcome visitors somewhere around here."

"Was she really that close? I hadn't realized that."

"We tried to keep it internal. No use releasing that kind of information at a time like that. I'd better get going."

She clapped him on the shoulder. "I'll see you later."

Quatre double-checked his extra clips and turned off the safety. If Beliv had only sent one person they were going to be dangerous. The guard bid him a curious fare-thee-well and opened the gate and successively the second, third and fourth security doors. Quatre looked around, and out of the corner of his eye spotted motion where it shouldn't have been. His head turned toward it and he heard someone swear.

"Stop or I'll shoot," he shouted reflexively, bringing the nine-millimeter up in front of him. His intuition hadn't failed him.

The figure tensed, but seemed to be facing an internal struggle. After a moment, she put her hands up. "God, I give up. This is too damned wrong."

"Step out into the light," he commanded, his arm not wavering. "Do it."

"Calm down, man," she said, tossing a bag of explosives and a palm-comp out in front of her. "This whole mission has been screwed from the start, and personally I don't think the Sanc Kingdom needs any help falling to its knees."

"I have a mind to disbelieve you, Dorothy Catelonia." Quatre snatched the explosives and summoned two of his security officers.

Dorthy's eyes widened, focused behind him at the crater where she'd so gently touched down. "LOOK OUT!" she screamed, dove at him and sent them both rolling into the wall.

Something brilliantly green-white flashed overhead, and Quatre turned barely in time to see Inimicus speed overhead. The bloodred gundam turned at them and paused.

Dorothy growled. "Just what the hell do you think you are? Bitch, only think of yourself, huh? And just what the hell do you plan on going? You've got Nulles and Fortuna against them, and I'd daresay you know you're weaker than they are.

"Work for yourself? What do you have to gain? Oh, you 'don't have time for this.' I see. Tell Erik we both quit. I'm sure he'll love you for it!" She huffed and looked at Quatre. "Filthy scavenging vulture. I knew she wasn't being honest."

Quatre gritted his teeth, and remembered to put his gun back up. "Was there something I missed in there?"

"You couldn't hear her talking to us?" Dorothy watched as the gundam faded off into the sky.

" . . . no."

She shrugged. "That's probably a good thing. You know, I've had a bad feeling about Erik for a while now, and that gundam he forced onto me has been the biggest disaster of my career. He ordered me to come destroy the Sanc Kingdom before it gets in his way, but I've been thinking that one, it doesn't need any help and two, I'm not so sure it's worth the risk. You know me good enough, Winner. I'm not willing to risk my own ass for excitement."

Quatre gestured the two men that emerged from the lock to the bag of sabotage equipment and told them to search her. "That wasn't necessarily my experience with you," he told her.

"I'm getting old," she told him. "It's kind of worn off."

"I would hope so." The guards took custody of her and Quatre decided his trip to the castle could be postponed for a short time.

He perched himself on a sealed crate in the storage room they'd halfway converted into a prison cell, opposite from her. "You were telling me the truth back there?"

She looked at the floor, but then up at him. Her voice had no evidence of indecision. "I'm quitting. I'm quitting this whole damn life. I'm sick of being treated like a pawn, like someone who doesn't know what she's doing. Maybe I'm just getting senile, but I don't feel like watching the pain is worth it anymore. Erik . . . I think he's slowly going insane. He talks about destroying everyone and everything, and it makes me wonder if I've been wrong all this time. All I know is that I just want this to stop. Can't someone be allowed to start over?"

"I've been wondering that myself," Quatre said quietly. "But that's beside the point. How can I trust you between long-time impressions and modern associations?"

"I don't know," she said. "I can tell you all I know about Erik's plans, but I don't have much. He's going to try to destroy Earth, and he thinks the Sanc Kingdom fuels Earth's guard for some reason. I tried to be as distant from his politics as possible, but frankly he started to frighten me."

Quatre nodded to himself. "All right. Come with me. You're going to tell it all to Milliardo."

He'd expected her to cower, to shrink in fear of being admonished by her one-time commander, but instead she nodded stolidly. "If that's what I have to do."

_Maybe I misjudged her._

**~~@[~*,~]@~~**

"Wufei, they're withdrawing!" Ben waved at him from across the bridge.

Wufei looked up from his battle-map. "What? How many of them?"

"All of them, and I mean withdrawing without surrender. They're just leaving!"

"That doesn't make any sense," said Wufei, joining the ex-Specials at the controls. "How far are they going?"

"Impossible to tell yet. They're sure turning tail, though. It looks almost like they're trying to accelerate to cruising speed." Cam took another look at the controls. "Hey, wait a second. They're withdrawing in every sector we have watchdogs in. This— this isn't right!"

"They're gathering their forces," Wufei told him, thinking hard. "I think he's trying for a final push. That's the only explanation I can think of."

"Now?" Ben looked puzzled. "Why would they want to do that now? Hey Dennis, c'mere!"

"I know," the boy said, coming up behind them. "You might want to order all fighters back, or they'll follow them all the way back to the main territory."

Ben nodded, reddening a little. He issued the order, than looked over the new data brought back. "That's weird, everyone's evacuated, even Beliv's implant politicians. What's going on here?"

"They're most likely gathering their resources for re-evaluation. We should take the opportune moment to do the same, if you want my opinion. Do we have an updated territory map I could see?"

"Over at my station," Wufei said. He led the boy over and brought the map up again. "Wow, they really do look centralized now, don't they?"

Dennis gasped. "Oh my God . . ."

"What, what is it?" Ben came running. He'd obviously been watching for the boy's reaction. Dennis gestured with one chocolate finger. "See how all these little extensions are dwindling and shifting Solar West? The really thick one hasn't faded or retreated a bit. He's maintaining that one."

"He's going to attack something in that direction?" Now if that wasn't a real obvious course of action . . .

"Yeah, and I know it's his real plan, too." Dennis bit his lip.

"How?" Ben asked impatiently. "Are you sure he's not playing with us?"

Dennis scowled at him. "Are you dense? Look at the layout! Can't you see? Who was the war declared against in the first place, Ben? Where, if you wanted to control the colonies, would you want to invade-slash-destroy? Where is the one place that everyone claims holds us back in terms of deep space exploration and who grounds us and limits us and is greedy and selfish, a hub for human activity, a place a lot of people consider a lost cause?"

"Damn," Wufei said quietly.

Ben shook his head. "I'm not good with politics or geography. I have no clue."

Dennis sighed, looked down and punched a button on the controls. On this version of the map, everything was a colored dot and color-coordinated territory ring to save space and view angles. The look on Ben's face when the detail display enlarged the hanging point in space was enough to say he understood and was as afraid as the rest of them.

Dennis reached into the holograph, cupping the marbled blue-and-white sphere gently in his hands, as though it was more fragile than a Christmas ornament; that it would shatter at his touch. The bridge seemed to darken as they gazed half-captivated and half too scared to disturb its seeming serenity. "Earth," Dennis whispered, his young face looking so very old. "Our mother, our womb. Seeing it from space really makes you remember how beautiful it is, how little we really matter until we're so large that we have the power to make it no more. I couldn't imagine a universe without Earth."

***************************************

_I think I'm gonna pass out for real this time. Next chapter, some stuff happens. Inimicus gets into a big fight with Fortuna and Pennes Nulles (I smell reunion!) and the Sanc Kingdom finally crumbles. It's extremely dark, which is why I don't think I'm gonna get sleep unless the vampire hovering in the corner knocks me out. But I know he won't, 'cause he never does. Damn untrustworthy vampires . . ._

Look for the next chapter of **AC 208: The Search for Truth:(Part X): "Sunset."**


	10. Sunset

_Ngh. I think I'm gonna edit this tomorrow. See you then._

Okay, edit time. Actually, I think I'll get lunch first. I won't be able to eat afterward.

**AC 208: The Search for Truth (Part X)**

"Sunset"

She was close. He could feel her presence.

He'd never liked her, never trusted her. No one really did, which might have been part of the problem from the start. Standing guard over the quiet blue house among the abandoned rice fields northeast of Tokyo, he scanned the skies carefully. She was close now, and he had to move away from the others before she came. He didn't want to risk their lives.

The reminders of Fortuna were everywhere. Even Heero spoke of her, as if it was one giant conspiracy. Her words haunted him. _::We were destined for each other . . .::_

::_I hear your thoughts, Nulles. I hope you're not as afraid as you appear to be._::

::_I am not afraid for me._::

She laughed. ::_Your feelings are still clear._::

::_I have done nothing to change them so you can hurt her. I won't let you hurt her._::

She came from the stars like a winged vixen, intent on nothing but pain. Beam saber met beam saber in the dark night, and he threw her back with a mechanical and mental grunt.

"_Am se es sarçommén_," she whispered, as their faces almost met, touching a nerve with her careless use of their beautiful language.

"_Da chæglle, ñobeis Fortuna,_" he said with menace, sweeping a wing forward and knocking her aside almost carelessly. _Be silent when you speak of her_.

With a wrenched cry she lunged low at him, tackling his armored ankles. Nulles struggled away and swept to his feet, barely in time. Focused on nothing but damaging him, she fell upon his beam saber.

"_Dginan,_" he told her. _Fool_.

::_I'm going to kill her if it's the last thing I do. You of all people won't stop me,_:: she told him through waves of pain. He hadn't injured her badly, and she would recover quickly. She was shaken, though. With a strained, careful movement, she took back to the air, disappearing into the night like the vampire she was.

He turned back to the house, and saw the family standing on the porch. ::_Did you see it all?_:: he asked.

::_Yes,_:: Heero replied. ::_Though I don't understand._::

::_I must warn Fortuna._:: He said. He approached and looked at them. Relena was frightened, but their older daughter wasn't. She was looking at him curiously.

"I'll go with you."

::_I won't impose. This is personal. I don't want you to risk yourself._::

He shook his head. "You know better than that."

::_I do,_:: he admitted.

"Heero . . ." Relena looked at him imploringly. "Can we talk for a minute?"

They closed the door so he couldn't hear what they were saying.

**~~@[~*,~]@~~**

"I get it," Akiko said suddenly, looking up.

Heero had already drawn breath to counter his wife's ill confidence and instead turned it on his daughter. "What, aijou?"

"I know why Fortuna says he's so cold." She grinned. "I got a chance to talk with Fortuna before we left the _Laiva_. She told me about how it's possible for her and the others to live, even without using fuel, or eating, or why they don't implode in zero-gee."

"What did she tell you?" Even Zero didn't share those kinds of things with him.

"The gundams absorb life-energy from everything around them— waste energy given off by us, plants, animals and the sun . . . even the planet itself. I learned some theory when I was on the _Gayla_. It says that thought might be its own form of energy— since it really does share many of the same properties _and_ is fueled by electrical impulses in our brain. Isn't emotion just like thought?"

Heero nodded, dumbfounded. She was eight years old!

"Well, when Zero charged his buster rifle to destroy Mariemaia's fortress, maybe it took more energy than he had to give. Maybe he had to draw on reserve energy from his emotions. The thing with that is that since it's a different type of energy it's harder to replace. I think it might have left him so drained that he hasn't been able to feel much since. Because he's used to not having it so long, when it started returning he didn't understand what he was feeling. That's kind of how it was when you gave me that stuff, Dad. He might not realize it, either."

Relena stared at her daughter, completely oblivious to the fact that her mouth was hanging open.

"Doesn't it make sense, though?" She looked at her parents, wondering at their overwhelmed expression.

"It does," Heero said slowly. "And it would explain a lot of things. Kik, if you're right . . ." _I've got to let Fortuna know_.

"Heero, you can't go. Zero can go where he needs to go on his own, can't he?" Relena wasn't willing to give that up yet.

"But now I think I have business with both Marie and Fortuna, that shouldn't wait. It won't take long, saiai. I'll be back before you miss me."

He gave his wife and daughters a kiss and opened the balcony door.

"Can't you leave in the morning?" Relena begged. "Heero . . ."

"I'm sorry, kanojo. We've got to get there before Inimicus does. It's crucial." Heero looked at her with all the sorry-ness he could muster. "Once more. You know we can't avoid it."

". . . I know." She sighed and stepped forward and put her arms around his neck.

"I'll be back soon. I promise." He held her for a moment. _::A few seconds won't hurt,_:: he admonished a complaining Nulles.

**~~@[~*,~]@~~**

"Why did I somehow forget to tell you that I definitely don't have time for this at the moment?" Milliardo asked, exasperated. "Fine, I believe you, Dorothy, but I've got a lot of things in my hands right now and my Kingdom is falling apart—"

"Which is exactly the reason why I came back," Quatre interrupted him. "We have to get you out of here _now_. The castle is surrounded, and there are a lot of people that want you dead. You are going to die if we don't get you out of here at this exact point in time."

"There is no point in holding on longer than you have to," Dorothy told him quietly. "You've done a commendable job, Milliardo, but it's time to let go."

"My father . . . my dreams . . ." the man turned away. "It shouldn't have to end like this."

"Such a defined peace isn't needed now. You've provided hope, but now both you and everyone you serviced are needed elsewhere. Don't let a permanently temporary thing burden this war. It might prove disastrous." Dorothy continued her softspoken persuasion through Quatre's phone going off.

"Yeah," the blonde answered, backing off a little bit so as not to disturb the others. "Hello?"

It was Une. They'd been back at the castle for almost a day before Milliardo had made "time" to see them, and he'd gotten a call a little over four hours ago from her, too. "Quatre," she said, the familiar sound of a baby crying in the background, "I thought Milliardo might want to hear this."

_It's bottom of the ninth, two outs, score's tied, count's three-two, and the pitcher just threw a fastball. Thank whatever forces we've got up there,_ he thought. He cut short Dorothy's lecture and held out the phone. "And if that isn't reason enough, we just came up with another one. Listen to that. Don't tell me you're going to stand down."

He hadn't known his wife had gone into labor. They'd never gotten a chance to tell him.

The expression on his face changed dramatically, then, suddenly aware of that, he turned around. Noin obviously took over the phone, because broken arguments could be heard. Milliardo stood still for a moment after finally surrendering to his wife. Then, he turned the phone off. _Fly ball to deep center field . . ._

"All right," he said softly. "Let's get out of here."

_Home run,_ Quatre thought, relived.

"Let's stop wasting time and go, then," Dorothy said, starting for the door.

That's when the whole castle shook. Milliardo's comm dinged. "Sir, the fence's been breached and the front doors've been knocked off their hinges. Sir, get out of here, Sir—!" It cut off with the crackle of a broken connection.

"Shit," Quatre said.

"Understatement of the year," Milliardo assured him. "C'mon."

There were three different directions to go in. One, which led to the front hall, was obviously not the better choice. "There are secret passageways in the walls here," Milliardo said. "Relena constructed them for just this kind of situation. "There's an entrance behind every suit of armor with a blue ribbon on its spear, but that doesn't guarantee that none of them haven't been found. Dorothy, go left all the way down the hall until you come to the staircase, and Quatre and I will go the opposite way. If you hear anyone coming go ahead and find the nearest one, but I'm trying to keep invaders off our backsides. Don't be afraid to use your gun here, we've got no other choice. Wound them if you can, but make sure they'll be unconscious for a while. We'll meet up back where it joins the office. There are torches you can grab at the entrances, but there should be enough light."

"Yes sir," Dorothy said, hurrying off in her designated direction.

There was no one on the right side, but by the two separated gunshots and several wet smacks heard Dorothy had taken care of a few. She met up with them panting.

"It becomes a bit of a maze here," Milliardo whispered. "I'll lead." He grabbed a torch and let them downward into the bowels of the castle. The passages were narrower— both the men had to slip through sideways at some points— and it smelled musty, but it was otherwise clear.

"We've been safe so far," Milliardo concluded as they struggled to regain nervously held breath, "but there's a slight problem. These passages take us right up through the cellar in back. If there's a mob there— as I duly suspect— we'll be noticed in a hurry.

"We can wait for nightfall. It's not far off," Dorothy said.

"We could," he said. "But I'd rather not wait. We need a distraction. Quatre, will you phone still work in here?"

"The signal's weak," he reported, "but I can patch though. What do you need?"

"A couple of mobile suits would be dandy."

Quatre called, trying not to talk to loud in case the sound reverberated. "Rashid, can you hear me? Okay, look, we've got trouble. I need a couple of suits here, around back and close to the outside entrance of the celler. Can you do that? Five minutes? Wonderful."

"Five minutes? That hardly seems possible." Dorothy looked skeptical. "I wouldn't bet my life on five minutes."

"If Rashid says five minutes that it'll be five minutes," Quatre told her firmly. "The Manganacs don't misjudge. They've probably already got pilots and suits warmed up."

"Let's move closer to the surface so we can hear what's going on," Milliardo told them, edging upwards. The passage sloped alarmingly for a long way, before leveling out. "If all goes to hell we still have all these shelves and empty barrels to hide in and between." He closed the panel (which had no door from the cellar's side) and silently showed them how the shelves were sequenced. It was pretty clever, actually.

"I'll have to remember to tell Relena this design saved my life— if it does," he whispered.

"I'm sure she'll love that," was the reply.

"There doesn't seem to be much going on outside," Dorothy told them. "I can't hear a mob shouting or anything." Her last word was drowned out by an earth-shattering boom, a signal that the Manganacs had made good on their five-minute promise.

Quatre's phone rang, and he picked it up hurriedly. "Quatre, you might have exaggerated the situation a little bit, but I'm still glad you called. They— or maybe not. I think they figured out what we're trying to guard here."

There was a shout, and the wooden door above them caved in. Dorothy yelped and Quatre shoved her out of the way of the falling debris. "Hide," he hissed, dragging her down into the specially designed ditch under one of the heavy oak storage shelves. "Keep an eye on the right side, but don't give us away," he told her as quietly as he could.

She nodded, pressing as tightly against him as was possible. The ditches weren't designed for more than one person at a time. It was a little comforting to Quatre, knowing there was someone watching his back.

Heavy booted feet appeared from outside, seven or eight pairs. He could hear someone outside giving orders, gunshots and the hiss and smell of ionized air as the Manganacs tried to target the people. Mobile suits weren't meant for small-scale destruction, though, and weren't so effective in this situation.

Suddenly it went silent up top, and several of the invaders turned to see what was happening. Quatre tensed, but before he could get a shot off he heard one farther down. There was shouting, and he sensed more than heard the crumbling of a fake wall and Milliardo's flight around to the other side.

A familiar pair of desert khakis accompanied a new visitor to the cellar, one most certainly welcome. With a roar, Rashid barreled after the black-clad men. Quatre listened to make sure the coast was clear, scanned the ground around them and spotted the torch he'd dropped. "Come on," he told Dorothy, squeezing out of the ditch and picking it up.

"Let's finish this job," she confirmed, gesturing for him to lead on.

There were footsteps approaching, and two male voices. They saw Quatre's torchlight and shouted, but not nearly in time. With a grunt and a warning to Dorothy, he hurled the oil-fueled lamp at their enemies, closing his eyes tight against the sudden explosion. The two men shouted in surprise, but Quat and Dorothy had been prepared. They brought up their guns and took the two down, and the one that came running at their shouts.

Rashid emerged from another isle, holding his side. "That's the last of them. You all right, Master Quatre?"

Quatre saw in the dim light what was troubling him. "I'm fine, but you—"

"I'm not getting out of here alive," he confirmed, staggering into a nearby shelf. "Don't worry about me. I've been looking forward to dying for a long time now."

"Rashid!" It couldn't be true! If he'd bet on anyone being invincible it would have been him.

He shook his head, coughing. "Come one, Quatre. We both know I don't have much left here. My whole family, my wife, my daughters, they're already there. You know that's why we risk ourselves. The whole village . . ." He fell to his knees, still leaning on the thick case for support. The whites of his eyes faded from view. "Tell the boys— tell the boys we'll be waiting."

Quatre looked away, trying hard to stop the tears. It was true that the Manganacs didn't have much left, but Rashid was one of his best friends since he'd been a child. He couldn't just be _dead_. His mind, his body was numb. He couldn't tell what was going on, where he was.

Milliardo gritted his teeth. "I didn't mean for this to happen."

"He saved our lives," Dorothy told them both quietly. "That's someone worth taking advice from. She put her hand on Quatre's shoulder, then held him gently when he lost his balance.

Milliardo hung his head with his own guilt. He hadn't known the man that well, but he'd still given his life to save the others.

"Hey, are you guys all right down there?" One of the Manganacs stuck his head into the cellar. "What's going on?"

And explosion rocked the castle, and Milliardo stepped out of the basement to see the top floor on fire. "Rashid's dead," he told the other.

"What? You're not kidding are you?"

"He got shot trying to rescue us." Quatre had himself a little more pulled together, because he emerged a moment later. "I think it's best that we get out of here."

**~~@[~*,~]@~~**

"Mariemaia, we've got someone here to see you and Fortuna," Ihminen said, holding one hand to his ear. "My, my, this is a bit of a surprise. Fortuna will be thrilled."

"Who is it?" Marie had come to the bridge to talk to him about something, but Ihminen's timing was always like that.

"Heero Yuy and Pennes Nulles."

"_Who?_" She'd never heard of a ship or gundam or anything with that name.

"Wing Zero," he said with a laugh. "It's Latin, his original name. They named prototypes after him, and when Heero started calling him Zero it just stuck. Anyway, he's got some urgent information for you, he says. You'd better hurry down there."

"Right." She'd been out here that Ihminen did tend to know best. She made her way to the elevator and ran to the docking bay. It felt good to stretch her legs on the sometimes-cramped ship.

Heero met her halfway. He caught her arm as they passed around a corner and almost sent her spinning into the wall. "Mariemaia!"

"Ack, don't do that," she mock-admonished him. "God, Heero, that hurt!"

"Sorry, but I think Zero's anxiety's started to rub off on me. We've got trouble headed this way. I was almost afraid we weren't going to make it."

"What kind of trouble?"

"Let's get back to the gundams. Out of curiosity, though, why are you guys headed towards Earth?"

"It's a pretty deliberate beeline," she admitted. "But who's tracking us?"

"I just noticed the trajectory. You have business?"

"Beliv's making his final campaign. We've all noticed. The Phantom Runners have been moving all their forces, tailing him, and we're going to help as much as we can. We don't have many fighters aboard, but they also want to observe the battle."

"It's inevitable, right?"

"Looks like it. Anyway, what's up?"

"We had a run-in with our good old friend Inimicus. She's got some kind of revenge in mind and said she was going to try and kill Fortuna. Zero wanted to be here to help."

She raised an eyebrow. "That's interesting. Y'know, Heero, Fortuna's been saying some things about him to me, and I've kind of got the feeling—"

"I need to talk to you about that, too." he confirmed. "Akiko came up with something interesting that I think might explain why Zero's been so distant. I need you to explain to Fortuna to give him time." Heero launched into detail on his daughter's idea, which made perfect sense to Marie.

"I'll speak to her about it," she told him. "Poor Zero. You think he'll recover?"

"I'm sure of it," he assured her.

Soon, they were floating in space next to _Laiva_, clinging to the hull so they wouldn't have to use their own engines. Earth was still probably a day away, and they wanted to get good seats. "You all right?" she asked Fortuna, trying not to make the question sound loaded.

::_I'm fine,_:: was the reply. ::_I'm just . . . surprised._::

"I don't blame you," Marie replied lightly. "He came all the way out here to warn you. It's kind of sweet."

Fortuna sensed her silent goading anyway. ::_All right, what did Heero tell you?_::

Marie sat back, still reading the scanners for any sign of Inimicus. "Remember he knows Zero probably just as well as you do," she warned. "Which brings up something I've been wondering about. I've been studying the specs of the blast radius when Zero destroyed my fortress all those years ago and the numbers don't match. How is that buster rifle of his charged?"

::_He uses his own energy reserves. To tell you the truth, I never liked the design. He always seemed so drained and distant after he'd used it._:: Fortuna shifted her wings a little, as if cramped.

"That's what Heero thought. He wonders if maybe the drainage when he tried to destroy me was so great that it's been difficult for him to feel anything. Heero says he's been more like himself lately, but that he's still recovering. I think he just needs time."

::_You . . . you really think it's not as bad as I suspected?_::

"I think so. Have you ever heard of Occam's Razor?" Marie asked her. It was old as the hills, barely a footnote in the history books, but she was surprised someone from the _Laiva_ didn't know it.

::_No. What is it?_::

"A theory that most of the world tends to believe unconsciously. It states that the simplest explanation is most likely the right one."

::_What's more likely? There doesn't seem to be a more likely answer._::

"It's a paradox, a point of philosophy. It's my opinion that it's simply an energy drain as opposed to a complex mental turnaround with an unclear cause. I'll let you think about it for a little while, huh?"

::_No time for that,_:: Fortuna replied with an edge.

"I see her," Mariemaia confirmed, sitting back up. "Heero, can you second us over here?"

"Yeah. You ready, girls?"

"Ready as I'll ever be."

The ship lurched as they cut the acceleration, and Fortuna released her hold, drawing her beam saber in the same movement.

::_She's still slow on her left side. I don't think she's done healing,_:: Zero advised them.

Their swords clashed with a flash of discharged energy, which each gundam absorbed as fast as they could. It was an efficient energy source, Marie thought offhandedly, letting Fortuna do the fighting. She watched as carefully as she could, and spotted the flaw almost too late. "For—"

With a metallic clash, Zero dropped in against Fortuna's blind side and knocked Inimicus aside. ::_So you weren't lying,_:: she said. ::_That must have taken quite a bit of energy to get here faster than me, Nulles. But, why can't you play fair?_::

::_Life isn't fair, little sister,_:: Fortuna taking advantage of the moment to be close to Zero.

Inimicus laughed, reminding Marie of the girlish little giggle she'd once had. ::_If you're going to be that way and not let me have a fair family fight, I might as well raise the stakes. I'll see you on Earth!_::

Fortuna made a kind of breathless sigh and switched off her saber. ::_Little siblings can be so obnoxious. Nulles—_:: She turned to the other with the intention of thanking him, but was cut short.

::_Don't start,_:: he said, pressing a finger to her lips in a gesture that Marie was sure meant a lot more than its face value. ::_You'll never stop._::

"Little steps, friend," she reminded Fortuna gently when she tried to contradict him. "Let him work out his own confusion."

::_You seem so sure I should._:: The gundam suffered, she knew, to be so close to him yet so far away.

"Trust me."

**~~@[~*,~]@~~**

"Noin?" Milliardo opened the door gently, in case she was resting.

"Thank God you're all right," she sighed.

He smiled, closed the door and sat down on the bed next to her. "Only because I have people to remind me that I have things to live for," he told her. "How are you doing?"

"Tired," she said, cuddling their son with drooping eyelids. "It's been a really, really, really long day."

"No kidding," he said, taking the baby from her with care, studying the sleeping face with a kind of pride. "You're right, he's beautiful."

"And he looks just like you," she said, feigning exasperation. "Let's hope he didn't get any of you're "redeeming qualities" too."

"Yeah, well I hope he didn't get any of your wit, or he'll come home with bruises all the time!" They both laughed, erasing the tension that had been present ever since this whole Sanc Kingdom thing had started to get out of hand. It was hard to believe it had really taken him over so bad.

"So history won't repeat itself after all," she said, relieved. "What's a good name? I haven't really been able to think of anything I really liked."

Milliardo thought hard. "You know, after all you went on about how much help we've had, I think a certain person might like it if we named junior after him, don't you think?"

Noin's face brightened. "That's very sweet of you. I would ask him first, though, if I were you."

"I was going to. Quatre said he was coming over here in a few minutes. He's a little depressed. I think it might cheer him up."

"If anyone's going to be depressed, I thought it would be you. What's the matter?"

"When the Manganacs came to bust us out of the castle, Rashid got wounded. He died, Lucrezia. Through all of this, not one of them's been lost, and now Rashid's gone. He was one of his best friends."

"You sound a little guilty." She sighed again and leaned against his shoulder. "But I've said this a lot lately. You can't unwrite what's been done. There's no use taking blame now. It's sad, but life goes on. This is war."

"You're a real comfort." But strangely, he felt a little better. "No, you just know me too well."

She chuckled. "We've been married since we were sixteen, it seems."

There was a knock.

"Come on in, both of you," Milliardo told them. It seemed so weird, but Quatre was taking a lot of comfort from Dorothy. The girl must have touched a nerve or something. Noin showed little surprise in her presence (maybe she was just tired).

"So is this the little one?" Quatre sat down in the nearest available chair, a tired smile on his face. "Joy in the midst of tragedy . . . it always seems to happen that way. It just doesn't seem the same around here now."

Milliardo didn't feel like playing sweet anymore. He was tired, a little hungry, and he was trying to enjoy his son. "We've all lost people, Quatre," he said as gently as he could manage. "I realize he meant a lot to you, but didn't Rashid himself say that he was looking forward to joining his family and friends? Think for a minute about what all these guys went through. Let them make up their own minds, okay?"

Noin jabbed him as hard as she could where Quatre couldn't see, but the man straightened a little. After a minute, he looked up. "Thanks. I think I needed that."

"Anytime." Sometimes people need a swift kick in the ass and a lemon to suck on for a while. That was Treize-ism.

"So, anyway, what'd you name the little guy?" Quatre looked over at the newborn, which was starting to stir in his father's arms.

"Actually, we wanted to talk to you about that. Noin and I have been very grateful to you for everything you've done for us, and there's no better way that we can think of to thank you. With your permission, we'd like to name our son after you."

Quatre blinked, and Milliardo knew he'd mended the man's heart a little. "You— really? I mean, I'm— I'm flattered," he sputtered. "I had no idea you guys—"

"You're appreciated more than you'll ever know," Noin said, her eyelids falling again. "But it's late, and we all need some rest. "I'm sorry to send you all away, but I've had a very, very, very long day."

"We all have," Millardo said, rocking little Quatre in his arms. "A night's sleep will do us all some good."

**~~@[~*,~]@~~**

Vincent slid his dry hands over the slick material of the black cape that Duo had given him for Christmas almost nine months ago. It would no doubt get bloody, but black silk so begs to be bled on.

Jason would have been six today. He saw his son's face so clearly every time he closed his eyes, his sweet innocent face mutated with fright, eyes wide, frozen in horror on into eternity, the back of his head missing and strewn all over the room. Nicole, his mother, had lain on the India rug in a red pool, hands clawed, perfect blonde hair mussed, reaching for the dead body of her son.

They hadn't been terrorists. They hadn't been butchers, but scientists. They'd shot him, too, in the arm. He was never told why . . . but they took him. He'd never been a pilot, just a civilian. He'd never lived on a farm. He'd been a lanky, underweight engineer with a little bit of interest in government. He'd never been happier than with his high school love and their sweet little son . . .

Vincent wiped furiously at the tears on his face, brushing wet strands of black hair back. He'd told Heero he wished he'd never known what they'd wiped from his brain, but he'd changed his mind about that. He could get revenge now. That evil man would taste a little of his own blood. He turned the safety off his gun, checking the clip. This would end today.

His ankle throbbed furiously from where that security officer had kicked him. There'd only been two in the hangar, though, and no alarm had gotten time to sound. No one knew that death was on the wind. He liked it that way.

The door hissed open, and no one noticed. The bridge of the battleship _Gayla_ was full of techs and officers checking equipment and reviewing orders and taking and sending transmissions, until someone looked up. Vincent ignored his stuttered "S-stop or I'll shoot!" and made his way straight for the command layer, black cape billowing around him. The steel mesh underfoot made a satisfying crashing sound with every heavy step. There never was a shot at him.

"Who have we here?" Erik Beliv tried to hide his shock and recognition with a confident smirk.

"You probably remember me," Vincent said darkly, his eyes burning, gun at his side. "I'm the one who pulled that dump on this computer when you had us and Ms. Darlian locked up." He turned to the captain. "I bet it was fun seeing how your little experiment had turned out."

Beliv's confident air was replaced by one of confusion. The man had never been brilliant, and the rug had been pulled out from under his feet nearly three years previous and he was just beginning to realize it. _What a fool,_ Vincent found himself thinking. _A politician should know better than to trust any scientist with knowledge of a war. But that would have been just like him, wouldn't it? For a pervert, watching war crimes destroy lives would have been fun._

Ingraham laughed, his scarred face twisted in sadistic pleasure. "You were always so brilliant. I trust you figured out how to bypass my memory blocks?"

"I did." Vincent's voice was deadly. "And I finally figured out who the hell's been controlling whom. A masterful job, Jacque, but it all ends right here." He raised his gun.

Ingraham laughed again and spread his arms. "Oh, you want to kill me, Vincent? How many bullets do you think a body can hold? My officers can find out for us." The man took several steps forward, until the barrel pressed against his chest. "It really would be a pity to lose such a successful experiment."

"I'm still human," he whispered, hazel eyes hard. "And you'll still be dead." With all the suffering he'd had to endure . . . with all the pain that was in his heart— a grieving husband, a grieving father, a grieving victim mentally raped bare, exposed and prodded and tortured beyond sight— he couldn't give such an evil man a relatively painless death. That would almost be mercy. He dropped the gun and sent it spinning down onto the lower level.

"Ah, good boy," Ingriham praised him for a split second before all breath was knocked out of him.

Vincent reached over with a lean leg and kneed the man in the stomach, sent him sprawling into the steel bars surrounding the upper level. The first bullet struck him in the side, and his vision went red and blurry. He wasn't going to die unless he took Jacque down with him. He leapt upon the man before he could recover from the shock, sending his fists into that scarred face of his. Blood splattered against his black silk shirt, and the next bullet hit him low in the shoulder from behind. He felt the impact, but the pain wasn't there.

There was a trick he'd learned in combat training during his abuse, one that would ultimately mean it's authority's death. Wrist sheaths are handy things, especially ones with diamond blades. Invisible when dealing with metal detectors, they _never_ lost their edge. With a savage grunt, he stabbed through Ingriham's stomach, upward under his rib cage, most definitely puncturing the man's lung. He twisted it, relishing the man's choked, bubbly scream of pain as much as Ingraham had enjoyed listening to his. "One for Nicole!" he said, his voice going hoarse and high as yet another brave venturing bullet hit him, shattering his hip. "My wife, my beautiful wife! One for my son, my innocent four year-old son! Murderer! Sadist! My life! My heart! My family! My home!"

The man to everyone else's horrified eyes was long dead, but Vincent still tore at the bloody mess, roaring like an enraged jaguar, frail form continuing to take lead as if it didn't matter. One sympathetic officer made mark of the suffering body's neck, veiled by static dark hair, and put him out as quickly as he could.

The bridge went dead quiet, so as even the machinery and computers seemed to stop. The silence was taken for the tortured one, not their tyrannic captain. How awful it must have been to suffer so much that all you want is revenge.

Someone retched, taking one look too long at the pile of flesh, now shrouded over with a black silk cape that shone dimly in the low-power lights. Most returned shakily to their chairs and hid their faces in their arms, conflicting human emotions too much for even the best officer to keep a straight face through.

"So there you've got what was coming," Beliv said quietly. "I should have known, Jacque. Long ago . . . you never would share your secrets. This war was never what you wanted out of a war. You just wanted bodies. You wanted to know a body without a soul. That's what intrigued you, what captured your twisted imagination. You must have discovered somewhere that it was you."

It didn't matter who Jacque Ingraham had been anymore, because his mind no longer made any difference in a war that was never intended to be his in the first place. Beliv ignored the body, summoned no one to clean it up. He sat calmly at his console, feeling a new sort of freedom, and went on with his plans.

******************************************

__

Don't know what makes me come up with these things . . . maybe lack of sleep. Anyway, the end is near. Next chapter, the final confrontation begins. The Sanc Kingdom is gone, the mastermind of the Colony Alliance brutally murdered, and a confused, insane Erik Beliv takes action. Earth is under siege, and saving lives can sometimes mean saving your own. It'll be out sometime after the 25th, because I have camp all next week. The next chapter of **AC 208: The Search for Truth: (Part XI): "Falling Stars."**


	11. Falling Stars

_Man, I really hate it when FFN goes down like that. Which reminds me, I really need to get my little subscription thingy. Can you believe I haven't done it yet? LAZY!!_

It'll be nice to know that you won't have to check back for the new chapters, though. I finished this monster, and I'm going to start a new one. In chapter 15 I'll ask you guys what you think I should do next, but wait until then because I have a few stories I was going to outline!

I've got about twenty minutes before I have to go to bed (yuuuuuck, job tomorrow) so let's see how much of this I can get done . . .

****

AC 208: The Search for Truth (Part XI) 

"Falling Stars"

"Well look at you," Relena gave her brother a hug, beaming at him. Both he and Noin stood on the Yuy's porch, looking haggard but happy. "I'm glad you were able to make it here so quickly. We have somewhat of an emergency situation."

"What's happened?"

"Don't worry about it this second. You guys get settled in first." Relena said firmly. It can wait. I know exactly how it is with a little one."

"I'll get the suitcases," Milliardo said. "Noin, why don't you go sit down?"

Noin hefted Quatre and gave him an appreciative smile. "I think that'll work fine. Who else is here?"

"Une, Quatre, Dorothy, Duo and Trowa. It seems like such a depleted crowd than what we used to have." Relena sighed. "It feels like the whole world is dying."

"Noin!" Noin was puzzled at the sight of the eight-year-old until she realized who it was.

"Akiko, honey! How are you?" She looked so _different_ with short hair. That face of hers, though . . . she looked more like her father than ever.

"Me? I'm fine. You look tired, though. What's his name?"

****

~~@[~*,~]@~~

"What's the situation out there?" Trowa wrung his hands, trying not to worry. "I mean, I guess I've been out of the loop for a while, but—"

"Why don't you just ask what we all know you want to," Relena told him gently.

Trowa grimaced, almost afraid to bring it up. The eight pairs of eyes offering encouragement were almost too much. "H— how's Mariemaia?"

Relena nodded. "She's all right. She's lost some friends, I think, but she seems all right."

Trowa sighed, his shoulders sagging. Quatre patted his shoulder sympathetically. Trowa had been in a slump for a while now, ever since he'd seen her on the news.

"Which brings up some important issues, especially for the gundam pilots here. Deathscythe, Heavyarms, Sandrock and Shenlong (when he gets here) are going to have to work with Zero and Fortuna, and might have to cover for them. Heero called this morning from the ship where he and Mariemaia are heading here right now. Both the gundams have Inimicus to deal with, so you might have to work on your own. Beliv is bringing almost his entire active navy to earth as we speak, so we'll need a lot of help.

"I've no word from the Phantom Runners if they'll be here, but most of their members are from Earth so it's a good bet. Dorothy, do you have any ideas about attack strategy?"

Dorothy shook her head. "Captain Ingriham— on the _Gayla_— handled most of the strategy, and I've gotten news that he was murdered yesterday. Erik's never been too good with that, so I don't know that he'll be able to come up with anything brilliant. Lady, you've got experience with politics, and with how Beliv plays the game. You'd probably have a better guess than me."

"Beliv never did anything that wasn't full-blown, that was for sure," Une said, remembering the malicious boy who'd lavished the attention from the press with his father's murder. "He's not going to try being subtle, especially when his move's so obvious. He's not _that_ dumb. We're just going to have to keep an eye out over populated areas, and watch for new weapons, that sort of thing. The problem is our own resources."

"Unfortunately," Quatre continued, "we won't be having much aid in that area. The colonies have all declined having anything to do with us."

"That will be a problem," Relena pondered. "We really depend on them."

"That's our own mistake," Milliardo interjected. "We could have let them have what they wanted—"

"Wrong!"

Everyone turned to Akiko, who was staring at her uncle defiantly. "If we'd given them what they'd wanted, they'd have gobbled it up and asked for more. If we had not given them support, they wouldn't have felt obligated to even come to our rescue at all."

"Akiko, please, let's not get into an argument over inter-colony politics," Une said wearily. It was obvious that had been a topic of discussion before Milliardo and Noin had arrived.

"And that's not the point anyway." Duo spoke up for the first time today. He'd been especially quiet, and Relena realized he must be extremely worried. "We have to get by with what we have accessible to us in very short order, so we must plan with what we do have. We can't keep worrying about past decisions or regrets or we'll be caught off guard anyway. Une's right: we must be vigilant. Relena, when did the crew aboard the _Laiva_ say Beliv would be arriving?"

Relena answered his direct question promptly, so as to keep everyone focused. "Tomorrow, if his speed keeps constant. That also accounts for the time that it would take for him to slow down enough to deploy mobile suits and fighter ships. Heero and the others are hot on his tail, but they have to be cautious when navigating our solar system. They have some kind of strange interference that I didn't really understand when Heero tried to explain it to me. Speaking of interference, Heero said that Ihminen's men don't really have fighters, and their ship is not armed heavily. He's called backup ships, but none are close to our sector or nearly as familiar with us as the_ Laiva_ are. There's no guarantee we'll have any support."

"Let's pray the Phantom Runners have caught wind of this," Quatre said solemnly, echoing everyone's thoughts.

"But anyway, we have to plan about the gundam's placements," Relena pointed out. "We have a very limited supply of them." She tapped a finger for every gundam available to them. "Deathscythe, Heavyarms, Sandrock, and Tallgeese. That's four. That's not even enough for one per continent."

"We have to consider how fast the gundams would be able to travel, too," Une added. "If we put them at points equidistant from certain cities, would they be able to reach one in time? The answer to that is most definitely no; this planet's just too big. The best possible vantagepoint is to have them in space. They can fend early troops off, and come through the atmosphere if needed."

"Good idea," Quatre said. "We'll have troops to back us up, right?"

"As many as I can muster." There was a buzzing sound, and Une clasped her hand over her pocket. "Consequently, I should better get moving if we want that to happen."

**~~@[~*,~]@~~**

"They're here," Phailin whispered, opening her eyes to the dark of a tropical night. The smell of a storm was in the air. It so far had been a dry monsoon season, but she couldn't help but get the feeling that the heavy moisture in the air would be urging events forward. She could tell by the shiver in her spine that all was not right. Through her curtains, she could see the flickering torchlight and the guard's shifting movements (she had eight posted around her walls, on her roof, and a dozen more out among the village).

She gathered her robe around herself and struggled out of bed, trying to make no noise in the dead of the night. She instantly regretted that phrase as it popped into her head, but it certainly was still. As silently as she could manage, she brushed aside her cloth door-curtains, pushed the wood panels aside on its greased sliders, and moved straight into Chatalerm's bedroom. They'd constructed the door not even a month ago, and she was grateful for it. She called his name softly, and the man awoke swiftly.

"Is something the matter?" he asked just as quietly, reaching for the short sword under his pillow.

She nodded, and moved closer. "I feel something, a premonition of approaching danger. My intuition has never steered me wrong before."

He nodded. "Our scouts have too observed them circling closer and closer to the village. You do not wake quite so easy these days, so I doubt you're wrong."

"I need to be hidden now." Phailin felt the urgency grow stronger just as she spoke.

"You know we've prepared the underground well," Chatalerm told her with real concern in his voice. "Jen's already down there, probably asleep."

They'd water-sealed, soundproofed and stocked an underground cave a mile or so from the village. The entrance to the cavern began under her house, and they'd built stairs to lead from Chatalerm's floor straight to it. "Still, I'd feel better with someone to accompany me there."

"I'll go," he promised, pulling a thermal-crossbow from its hiding place and hooking his sword to his belt. He had been dressed in bed. "Let us hurry, for if they find us down there we'll be trapped, likely with no backup."

But before they could lower the stairs, one of the guards yelled and fired a gun. Phailin cursed and Chatalerm shoved her roughly— panicked— into his closet. "Don't make a sound," he warned her needlessly. She was already straining her ears to the fullest.

Within the next few seconds, the thin walls conveyed the fact that men had burst out of everywhere. Phailin had requested palace guards from her uncle, and cleverly put all of them in nearby houses and surrounding her own with villagers. She heard a whoosh and knew from the screams that somebody's house was on fire. It wasn't hers, but it would provide a distraction. 

There were so many voices that Phailin couldn't count them. She'd had Chatalerm warn her neighbors to stay inside unless absolutely necessary when this happened, and consequently they were almost all male voices. Guns and energy weapons were being discharged at a rapid rate, and yells of pain were rapidly overtaking those of surprise. Phailin ignored the pulsing of her ears and listened intensely to the firefight, hoping a stray bullet wouldn't find her.

Her house shuddered as the door broke down to at least two invaders. Last reported, there had been nearly a dozen men in that "hunting" band close to the village. That was a lot of bounty hunters to split up one person's reward, and Phailin wondered if they weren't scheming against each other just as much as their quarry. A split second later, a powerful high-pitched energy discharge and an enraged shout announced Chatalerm's debut.

There was a very deafening silence, and then a "Phailin?"

Whoever was trying to sound like Chatalerm was almost succeeding, but Phailin had spent too many nights close to the man to mistake that voice. There was just the tiniest bit of accent, too. "You can come out now," he insisted. "We got rid of them."

_I hope Chatalerm's all right,_ she thought desperately, freezing her muscles and opening her throat as wide as it would go so her breathing wouldn't make noise. She couldn't afford not to have oxygen.

There was a thumping sound, a painful yell, and a very angry hiss. Her mother's cat had come to like the carpet in the hall as a bed, and the thing was difficult to see in the dark. _Thank Buddha for small favors,_ she thought, kissing her fingertips and touching it to her forehead in relief. The bounty hunter was cursing, and judging from the sound hopping around trying to dislodge the black cat. Bakkte was most likely clawing the man badly about the legs and midriff.

Normally, Phailin would have jumped right out to finish the bandit off while he was distracted, but she knew she had better stay put. Normally, she would have had great confidence in being able to survive the encounter, but this time she was apprehensive.

There was another familiar shot from Chatalerm's energy-bolt crossbow and then his voice called out, a bit strained but sounding confident. "Three wounded, eight dead, four being pursued into the jungle, expected out-of-action within the hour. We've got them, Phailin. You can come on out now."

Phailin found the handle to the closet door and pushed her way out. Chatalerm was standing stooped in the hall, favoring his right leg and pressing both palms against his thigh. "Swift work," she told him. "Are you all right."

"I took a bullet, but I'll be fine," he said, grunting as he attempted to stand up straighter.

"How many of our own down?" She braced herself, assuming an even count.

"Two of your palace guards were killed, and five were injured. Only one's looking bad. Oh, and one house has lost its 'authentic thatched roof' down to the insulation."

Phailin chuckled, despite the grim situation. She'd discovered that Chatalerm had developed much more of a wit since meeting Wu's sister, and it certainly helped her feel better. The bounty hunters had mistaken the carefully arranged facade that the village really was for a primitive community that didn't have any knowledge of fireproofing.

"Let's get you to the surgeon," she told him, slinging his arm around her shoulder. "The sooner we do, the sooner you can be back on your feet for your wedding."

The surgeon was already at the end of the street, treating wounded along with all the nurses and doctors in the village. There wasn't enough for each person, but most of the injuries were like Chatalerm's, not threatening. They took their own people as priority, naturally, and immediately started the injured fighter on painkillers and sedatives. The bounty hunters that hadn't been knocked out were stolidly taking their injuries with silent tongues, though each and every one of them gave Phailin a look of great surprise and respect. One of them had a face she recognized— he was the Chang who Wufei had saved her from in the market in Bangkok. He was the only one that really seemed embarrassed and ashamed. _A bit odd_, she thought.

Three men dressed in camouflage gear were being dragged back, bound by thick, well-knotted ropes. Another was being hauled limply along by the foot, obviously dead. The palace guard was noted for their environmental skills, and had spent days in disguise learning the terrain. Their uniforms were dirty, but the reward sanctioned by the king would no doubt compensate for a little mud and a few scratches. Phailin thanked them, taking charge of the other prisoners and questioning them each closely. Just as she'd thought, they simply hadn't expected anything as organized as they defense Phailin had organized. She began planning for a deal with the bounty's supporters.

She ordered for the dead bounty hunters to be burned and the ashes buried in the jungles, and the families of the dead guards to be contacted and asked of any funeral arrangements.

And without warning, a fierce pain ripped through her stomach. Jen emerged from the cavern at a villager's summoning just in time to see it.

**~~@[~*,~]@~~**

It hardly seemed like thirty-six hours since the notices had been sent out. The streets were abandoned everywhere. Workers had been sent home, businesses closed down, blackout curtains drawn and any shield available put up. People were frightened, but there was still a measure of faith stirring for Earth's soldiers. Une could feel it.

Her words had been broadcast across every television, every radio and burned into records that would stand the ages, words she had spoken mere hours ago to her raptly attentive officers.

_"Today is the final battle. Today, Earth will live or it will die. Your enemy refuses to die, refuses to surrender, and will be utterly unmerciful. Many of our lives may be lost, so don't let those lives go to waste._

"Many colonies believe that Earth is no longer of use to them. They think they are more efficient, more stable, and more profitable in some places than the planet that gave birth to their own people. 'Will they suckle forever at the withered breast of that dying rock, or will they embrace the stars as their new and rightful home?' one campaigner asked not long ago. Let us show the colonies that we can defend ourselves, that we are proud of our mother and have not ruined ourselves.

"A great friend of mine once claimed that there will never be a place so beautiful, wise and ultimately eternal_ as this planet, because it has its own rhythm that even its most intelligent productions can't understand. Earth has existed long before us, and I for one will be satisfied if it survives us. Earth is all that is permanent in this universe, from a human perspective. If we lose it, we'll have lost ourselves."_

Treize from long ago had whispered such to her in the long hours of the day and nights where she lay in fever from the bullet wound so many years ago. His gentile voice had been filled with such sorrow, such passion that it had pained her to speak those words, as anonymous as she made them sound. It had almost felt as if he'd been standing beside her, proud of her at last. Une had never learned how to understand the man, over her years of self-exile and meditation. She tried so hard not to lose what little she had left of him, but through the long moments of silence after her final speech she realized that all she needed to do was see a kind of beauty in everything, if only because it was _human_.

"Lady, they're here," the dispatch officer told her quietly as she stared sightlessly at the giant wall map. Her closest officers were with her in the protected bunker, watching Earth down to the smallest grain of sand perched upon the wind.

She nodded, bringing herself out of the memories, no longer so painful. "Let's make our stand count, gentlemen and ladies. Our last salvage of hope, as Ihminen put it, will not be lost because of its ungrateful child's greed. Attack when ready."

**~~@[~*,~]@~~**

The fleets paused in the silence of space, facing each other with the deepest loathing. The earth forces looked extremely pitiful in front of the spit-polished, glistening army of war-hardened colonist pilots, but the ragtag salvaged and pieced-together ships were more powerful then they would seem at first glance. Une had offered generous compensation for any spacer who was willing to pilot in Earth's defense, and the hoard had been so great that she'd been surprised that more of the volunteers hadn't asked for the money at all. Some had flatly refused payment, and the Lady had wondered what had gone on that suddenly made them selfless. Most of the ships were independent traders' vessels, lovingly cared for and packing more weaponry than it would seem at first glance. They made up the middle ranks, with the Karkadan and Kirin suits in front, large battleships in back.

There seemed to be endless minutes full of stillness, until Beliv got impatient and made the first move. Une had managed to hide a large portion of her fleet in the moon's shadow, out of sight of the Colony Alliance, and that took several of their larger ships by surprise. Ranks were cut down quickly before the Alliance managed to get organized again. They had succeeded in keeping the lines unbroken.

A dot, specially colored a light brownish orange on the map in Une's chamber darted out of the melee and approached one of Beliv's cruisers from a blind point. Quatre was no doubt ripping at the ship for all he was worth before they could turn their powerful Draco suits back on him, and by the time they were able to attain backup, the ship's marker was blinking furiously, indicating severe damage. "That one's out of commission for a while," Quatre's voice crackled through on the voice-only channel that connected the gundam pilots to Une. He sounded drained.

"Good job, Winner," Une told him. "Fall back and catch a little rest for now. You'll need it later, methinks."

"Thanks." Quatre ducked into the dogfights briefly before appearing on the other side of the battle line, hooking up to one of Une's vessels for some on-the-fly repairs. None of the other gundams had been able to make it through in the first surge of force, but even one of the giant battleships disabled increased survival chances.

"Lady, we've detected a strange craft emerging from behind the moon." One of the coordinators waved at her, jabbing to the new, khaki-green dot on his screen. He was the officer in charge of satellite monitoring.

"Who is it? Are the Phantom Runner's here?" Une felt her pulse quicken with the prospect of the powerful band arriving so soon, but it turned out that her assumption was false.

"No ma'am, it appears to be an asteroid," the other said carefully.

"It's no immediate danger, so ignore it," Une told him, though as soon as the words came out of her mouth she was incapable of doing just that.

**~~@[~*,~]@~~**

"Last call. Anyone want to jump?" Abdul surveyed his friends' faces as calmly as he could manage. The bridge lights had gone red on the reserve power, and their gaunt faces were eerie.

"Come on, man, you know we don't," Mohammed turned the last safety off and sat back. "We've got as little to live for now as it is." 

"We all want to see our families, anyhow," Auda adjusted the trajectory and gunned their asteroid's gigantic engines. "Rashid would have told us the same. Either we all go, or none go. We've already decided to go ahead with it."

"Right, of course." They only had each other left, and they'd lived in their grief far too long as it was. Abdul sat back.

Their target had realized what they were far too late, and its sluggish acceleration made it seem almost comical. "For all the lives you've destroyed," Mohammed murmured, closing his eyes. "And everybody who still lives with that pain!" Then, when the two ships were on the verge of colliding, he released both red buttons at once.

**~~@[~*,~]@~~**

The Manguanac's ship blossomed spectacularly in a ball of flame, and in a moment the debris cleared enough to reveal an incredible, somehow gruesome sight. The ship that they had targeted was half-gutted, torn away like a rotted limb, and the engines had been completely dismantled. Une read the label on it, startled. "They . . . they killed the _Gayla_," she said quietly, disbelieving.

"I'm still reading activity on the bridge, Lady," the tech beside her said. "They're still giving out orders, but at least they won't be able to use their thermal cannons."

"That's enough relief as it is," Une told him. "How about our troops?"

"We've broken down to our last line of ships over the Argentina/Chili area. They're requesting backup."

Une looked back at her map. "Send them some squads from South Africa. They aren't having much trouble over there. Oh, and call Tallgeese to assist. He's near there, or should be."

"Yes ma'am."

Une jumped, startled, as the alarms went off suddenly. She was the first one to get to the switch, and she slammed her hand down on it angrily. The whooping alerts died, and it left several of her men shouting with glee. "What's happened?" she ordered, still a bit frazzled.

"The Phantom Runners are here!" two of them said at once.

Funny, how someone who was technically at war with Une's forces summoned such relief.

**~~@[~*,~]@~~**

"Everyone ready?" Wufei ran one last check on Shenlong's systems before calling the bridge.

"Affirmative," Ben told him, his voice a little fuzzy because of Beliv's attempted radio jamming. "No problems reported, and everyone's checked in."

"What's the situation out there?"

"Two of Beliv's battleships have been as destroyed, and the _Gayla_'s missing its entire engine section," Dennis answered. "It looked like a single explosion, too. Man, I would have liked to have seen that."

Several of the others on Wufei's channel muttered agreements. The general atmosphere consisted of confident ease, signature of pilots who've seen too much battle for their own good. Experience had its own price.

"Anyway, looks like Une's moved pretty much all her troops from the daylight side of the planet to the night side to keep the Colony Alliance from surrounding the planet. It's working fine now, but they'll need backup sooner rather than later. You guys had best get going."

Wufei gave the order to launch.

**~~@[~*,~]@~~**

It felt as though someone had flipped a switch. Une had predicted the battle to rage for days . . . but it had been only hours since the Phantom Runners had arrived and Beliv's fleet was devastated. The rogue group had chosen to take on the fighters first, leaving the heavy battleships to the gundams. As soon as Une caught on to what Shenlong was doing, she adjusted her tactics.

Erik Beliv's face appeared on the large screen suddenly, the bearded menace making her scowl involuntarily. "I'm never giving up" were his only words, spoken in a deadly whisper.

She hadn't noticed the mobile suits he'd gathered behind his ship, and by the time she drew her attention to it they had enough to push the _Gayla_. His remaining four cruisers were gathering nearer to him, and with a shout Une ordered all capable ships and mobile suits to abandon their dogfights and head for the ships. Together, their power would be enough to destroy a large portion of Earth and disrupt everything that didn't burn, just like the meteor that killed the dinosours and the meteor that would have imitated it twelve years ago. "History has found yet another way to repeat itself," she muttered.

**~~@[~*,~]@~~**

Marie arrived just in time to see it happen. "Heero, look at that," she shouted, already accelerating out of the bay and into Earth's gravity field.

"What are those other ships?" he asked, referring to the brightly decorated Earth-designed carriers and battleships.

"Mine; the Phantom Runners," she corrected herself. "Looks like their trying to block those other ones from getting closer to Earth. "We've got to help them, and fast."

She noticed with a start the chunk taken out of the Gayla, and felt only fear. The ship was obviously still running, and even the Phantom Runners avoided the craft when possible. It had powerful thermal cannons, and could tap into any other of the ship's power supplies.

::_He's going to ram Earth_,:: Fortuna told her quietly. ::_Nulles is right._::

"Operation Meteor all over again," Heero told her, his face gray. "But that monstrosity is much too big for Zero's Buster Rifle to take care of. We'll have to hope the Phantom Runners can handle it."

"Well, we can help!" Marie unlocked the shuriken from Fortuna's arm and sent it hurtling toward the mob of Draco suits pushing the _Gayla_ along.

For a moment it looked like Heero was going to go for his Buster Rifle anyway, but he turned in mid-movement to his beam saber. Zero must have expressed a desire not to lose what feelings he'd gained. She felt Fortuna's relief and chuckled throwing the shuriken again as it returned to her.

Pennes Nulles and Fortuna dove into the thick of the _Gayla_'s new "engines" and made slow progress at eliminating the mobile suits.

Without warning, Fortuna was slammed from behind and sent tumbling deep into the ship. Using reflexes honed with many furiously paced battles, Marie flipped around and stopped, great feet making long marks in the metal halls. Fortuna fluffed her wings angrily, and muttered only one word. ::_Inimicus._::

"Can you reach Zero?" she asked.

::_I'm being blocked_. _I'm not even sure he heard me yell before we entered the ship._::

Marie felt her stomach drop. No rescue, no communication, and they were being pursued by her sister gundam through a maze of twisted metal and unstable equipment. It felt a little familiar. "Wonderful."

The entire craft shook with the sound of an explosion, and Marie swore. The _Gayla_ was going to be destroyed with them inside!

**~~@[~*,~]@~~**

"Ben, there's no way we'll be able to eat that thing down with our thermal cannons! Why are you wasting our energy with them?" Dennis looked at his comrade, who seemed half out of his wits.

"There's no other option," the man replied, bracing himself against the captain's console as their ship shook with the effort of expending its weapons. "If we don't do something, the whole planet's gonna die!"

"What the hell do you think you're doing?? Stop it!" An angry, panicked face appeared on Ben's monitor. "Cease fire, you guys!"

Ben motioned and the bridge stilled with mechanical relief. "Mr. Yuy, what the hell's going on? You can't order us around."

"I thought you might like to know," Heero growled, "that Mariemaia and Fortuna are trapped inside the _Gayla_. You're putting them at risk firing your equipment recklessly like that."

Ben paled.

"Target the ships attached to the _Gayla_," Heero suggested coldly when the red-haired commander didn't answer. "Try not to damage anything else." The screen reverted back to its battle map.

"Well you heard the man," Ben barked at the bridge crew, trying to hide his surprise. "Get to it!"

Once more, the ship shook as if in its death throes. Dennis steadied himself against his chair, fists clenched tight against the material.

**~~@[~*,~]@~~**

But no matter how many of the outside ships were scrapped, no one was unwilling to touch the _Gayla_ now, and it was still drifting into Earth's gravity field. Heero had to fight Zero with every ounce of mental strength and cunning he possessed to keep the gundam from diving in after Fortuna and Inimicus. "It's no use!" he roared, wrestling the controls. "You might only cause more damage to the ship in there! She's better off trying to fight her way out on her own!"

::_I can't— I won't— I will not allow myself to lose her again!_:: Zero was slowly overriding his pilot, his emotions fueling some deep, brutal strength hidden deep inside the gundam. Heero knew that if his daughter was right, and somehow Zero _could_ help Fortuna escape from her sister, he would lose the passion he was starting to feel again.

"Don't be a fool," he grunted, managing to snatch the gundam's hand away from the Buster Rifle. "You'll lose everything if you try and rescue her, and you know it. She's a strong one. She'll be all right on her own."

Zero's attention sagged for a moment, and Heero seized the opportunity to nab control back. "Listen to me," he continued. "I know exactly what's going through your head, and I understand, but you've got to let others play their own parts. If I thought I could help Relena by being by her side every day, I wouldn't be here, but I know that sometimes she can handle things better when I'm not being a distraction to her. Let her handle her sister on her own, and let her full concentration be dedicated to the task."

The gundam gave one last half-hearted attempt at wrenching control back, but finally let out a kind of anguished moan. ::_The world is nothing . . . if I lose her._::

"I know," Heero said quietly, feeling everything through their lifebond and being utterly capable of remembering his own losses. "Trust me, friend, I know."

Zero's golden wings flapped sluggishly, retreating from among the dead mobile suits like a fleeing angel, back out into the safety of space, where the stillness of the aftermath was only interrupted by the flashes and silent explosions of the planet-wrecker.

He was soon joined by the other gundams, all of whose pilots spoke in hushed tones as if in the presence of someone dying. Quatre wasn't talking at all, lost in grieving over his friends. As if sensing Zero's pain, they moved in closer to him, supporting him.

It was a long story, peppered with questions and unknowns, but Heero finally got the story of deceit and betrayal across for those who hadn't heard it. Quatre was totally silent, though they all knew he'd been listening. He'd never told anyone how he'd been lured into becoming a pilot. It was probably a nasty shock for him to recall it.

"They— they killed my wife?" Wufei's expression was unreadable, but he was obviously angry and confused. "And all these years . . . an _accident_ they'd called it . . . bastards."

"They planned Trowa Barton's death so I would fly . . . how very like that scheming rat Dekim," Trowa added, eyes hard.

"I'd never known anything about it," Milliardo told them all quietly. "Treize never said a word about Mariemaia or the gundams— or anything even about Barton's plans— to me. He must have told _someone _what this all means."

"According to Mariemaia, he didn't even tell Fortuna," Heero said. "Zero says that she always complained about it."

"And he left no one with any knowledge, though he seemed to have pieced everything together," Une's voice, which had been silent so far, finally came through. "Not even me. He left me with bits and pieces. I think, maybe he was afraid to tell anyone. I knew . . . I knew about Mariemaia, but little else. He didn't like to talk about all he'd found, as if it was painful for him to accept."

"Which leaves us with nothing to go on," Duo concluded. "This fighting may be over, Beliv may as well be dead, but if we can't understand what was meant by Ihminen's lecture about earth being a balance point, we might as well have just lost the war."

"Don't give up yet. Fortuna's still alive," Heero told the others, trying to keep them from sounding too dejected.

"How do you know?" Une sounded curious.

"Lifebonds are tricky things," Heero replied, patting the gundam's console unconsciously. "Zero would be able to feel it if she died, no matter how far away they are from each other."

Suddenly, Wufei cut his connection and fled.

"What was that?" Une asked.

"Dunno," Duo answered. "Kinda weird, though. Maybe he saw a stray suit still alive out there or something."

Milliardo sighed. "Well I don't know about the rest of you, but I think it's time I went home. I miss my wife . . . and my son."

"We're already letting the Phantom Runners finish this," Une told them. "You're all dismissed at your own judgement." 

**~~@[~*,~]@~~**

"We just aren't doing enough damage," Ben said. "At this rate, the ship is still going to fall into the atmosphere. We've run out of options."

"Not necessarily," Dennis said quietly.

"What?" Several of the bridge crew turned at their commander's exclamation, and Dennis felt himself redden with the attention.

"I can think of one other thing," he told Ben quietly. "It's a last-ditch try, but it might work."

"For god sakes, tell me man!"

"We could ram them and knock them off-course."

The bridge was silent, and then exploded with comment. Ben grinned, a hint of mischief about his ice-blue eyes. "Don't know why I didn't think of that myself. All right, guys, anyone who wants to go home had better abandon ship. Tell the mobile suit pilots not to come back here. Dennis, you get going, too," he added as the boy braced himself. "You've got a lot of life left to live."

**************************************

_I lied. I do that a lot. I'm going to be tired tomorrow, but I want to get the next chapter edited. Read on . . . (Oh, and I know this is a little late, but it looks like more people are reading these things when I get reviews for each chapter. I also like to know if there was something you didn't get or would like further explanation on. Helps with Chapter 15 much. No obligation, though ^_^)._

So nothing looks bleaker for our pilots, until the perseverance of the human spirit and the human species begins to thrust itself forward. Inevitably, even in the worst times there will be **AC 208: The Search for Truth (Part XII): "Unplanned Fortunes".**


	12. Unplanned Fortunes

_I've got one of the songs from "Moulin Rouge" stuck in my head. Anyone have a cure for "Sparkling Diamonds?"_

Sings (quietly so as not to wake the parental units):

*Diamonds are a girl's best*

*Diamonds are a girl's best*

*Diamonds are a girl's best friend!*

(Actually, I prefer emeralds, but the song is just too catchy . . .)

**AC 208: The Search for Truth (Part XII) **

"Unplanned Fortunes"

The jungle shuddered as Wufei landed a little harder than he'd intended. It was a September noon, sweltering, humid, and extremely unpleasant. Wufei sweated his way to Phailin's village, expecting the worst. The trail between the base at Samut Sakhon and the village was overgrown, abandoned for months, and Phailin wasn't at the base.

The village, however, was not smoldering in ruins. Everything seemed quite normal. He heard his name called and recognized Jason, Phailin's little brother, running in his direction, trailed by perhaps a dozen children laden with little white flowers. "Wufei, we've been waiting for you for many months!" he cried happily. "Phailin will be so happy to hear!"

Relief spread through him like a liquid. "She's all right? Where is she?"

Jason frowned. "You can't see her right now."

"She's my _wife_! What's happened to her?" Wufei felt the relief drain away as fast as it had come.

Jason looked uneasy as the village children began to drape their flower strings over his brother in-law. "Wait here," he said. "I'll be right back."

Nearly twenty anxious minutes had gone before the boy returned, a grin plastered on his features. The expression was very irritating. "Follow me."

He'd never been to the indicated area of town before, but it definitely seemed less crowded. The argument was evident as soon as he had the right building. He recognized one voice as Phailin's, tired, strained and frustrated, far past all negotiation. He wondered what had kept her from coming to greet him in person.

"Inside," Jason said, motioning to the door. "I'm not allowed."

So he went. Phailin must have picked up the sound of the door opening, because she spat a final word and fought her way out of the back room. Her face was different than he remembered, rounder, but a bright, massively joyful smile flushed any other detail away. He couldn't see much behind the high counter, but as she beckoned him behind it he paused, finally able to take in the rest of her.

The secluded building with medical equipment scattered about . . . the reason men weren't allowed in . . . her agitation and suddenly anxious face . . . he saw finally how it all fit together. He met her gaze and realized that he'd been gone nearly three seasons, nine months of total isolation from her. Nine months had passed with him totally oblivious to the fact that he was about to witness the birth of a child. Before he truly knew what was happening, he was being holding her tight against his chest, carefully lending her support around her round stomach. In a furious rush, he clutched her to him, relishing the lightheaded feeling that overtook his weariness completely.

Phailin whimpered suddenly, grimacing. Wufei felt the muscles of her stomach ripple, and suddenly realized he'd barely made it in time. He shushed her gently, stroking her long hair. He hadn't seen it down in so long, he realized, and he'd forgotten how very beautiful it made her look. "I love you," he told her, realizing they had a bit of an audience from the back room. It was Phailin's mother and a young Chinese girl he didn't recognize.

She smiled and surrendered a little sigh. "I wasn't going to let tradition, superstition _or_ my mother keep you from being here. Why don't you go get cleaned up? It's likely to be a while longer."

"Only if you'll send for me if something happens," he said, kissing her forehead gently.

"I will," she promised. "Oh, but bring back those flowers. They smell nice."

**~~@[~*,~]@~~**

"Blast it," Marie growled, shaking her mane of tangled red-gold curls. "I'm just gonna tear my way out of here. Whoever heard of making a ship so completely hard to navigate?"

::_Well, if it makes you feel any better, these halls were not designed for something of my size,_:: Fortuna added as a spark from a broken fuel line landed on her arm. The gundam shook it off quickly.

"Yeah, helps a lot." Marie ignited her beam saber, stuck it through the ceiling, and rolled away when the chamber above protested violently in a shower of fire. "Okay, let's not go that way."

::_Oh really? I thought that would be a perfect route._::

"Just shut up, okay? I'm trying as hard to get out of here as you!" Marie sighed. "I don't see a good exit. All that debris that fell in on us is blocking the way we came."

::_Noted. Any other bright ideas?_::

"No."

Marie sank down into her cushy seat and ran the scanners. Perfect, fuel tanks surrounded them.

_"Don't let those scanners fool you. Inimicus has deliberately misled Fortuna's equipment. The hull is only three layers to your left,"_ said a distressingly familiar voice. 

Marie groaned with exasperation. "You again? I thought you'd finally left me alone." She looked around, but there was no one around. He didn't reply.

::_Who are you talking to?_:: Fortuna was a little accusatory. ::_Not me, I take it?_::

"Never mind. Let's try to our left." He probably didn't want to kill her at least, Marie suspected. Why would he deliberately lead her into a trap if she was going to burn up inside the gutted _Gayla _anyway?

Lo and behold, he was right. She almost wilted with relief as she saw Earth and its blue halo of atmosphere through the hole she made with her beam saber. She took a moment to be a spectator. "God, look at that." The marbled blue orb spun slowly, half in night and half in day from their angle. The dark side glowed with lights from cities and towns. The light side gleamed in beautiful color, and Marie felt herself shiver. _There's nowhere else in the universe like it,_ she realized. _Now I know what Cam meant by having no words._ She felt wetness on her cheek and realized she was crying.

::_I've never seen a real living planet beside yours,_:: Fortuna admitted. Then, she said something that was the biggest understatement of all time. ::_It's beautiful._::

Marie leapt out and fled the beckoning gravity field, snapping back into reality with a new determination. She could hear the ship creaking under strains. "Do you see her anywhere?"

::_Yes. She's on the other side. She was never chasing us around inside after all. Be cautious._::

Marie patted the gundam's console. "We have to fight her, and I think, after taking a good long look at that planet I call home, I know why. Sooner is better than later. Do you need any time?"

::_Let me tell Nulles . . . let me tell him I'm all right._::

"Don't let him interfere this time," Marie warned. "She'll run away again, and we can't chase her."

The gundam was silent for a long moment, and Marie took that long to remorse. Her life had felt so empty since Cam had died, so useless. She missed lying in his arms at night. She missed the company, the understanding. She wondered if it would have been of any use, had she been able to tell him goodbye. Or tell him how much of a joy he'd been in her life.

**~~@[~*,~]@~~**

The birthing room was wonderfully dim, a relief from the harsh sun that shone down. Wufei shook as much water out of his hair as he could before stepping through the curtain, dressed in fresh white linens. It felt good to be back with his wife.

"Phailin, stop pacing," her mother scolded.

"It's not hurting anything, Charunee," Phailin's grandmother scolded, coming to the woman's defense. "It will be better for her if she works off her tension."

Wufei squeezed his wife's shoulder. "I'm here, now, what more could you want?"

She smiled. "I suppose things will be magically right now?"

"Of course."

It wasn't long before she went into the final stages of her labor. There was a small crowd waiting outside, among them Chatalerm, from whom Wufei had learned much about the past months while he had bathed. Wufei held her with newfound respect and affection, marveling at how strong she must have been to survive the horrible ordeal.

"Breathe, Phailin," the girl reminded her gently, down at the business end of the bed.

Phailin struggled for breath, gripping Wufei's hand tightly. Then, she shoved him away. "Go," she told him.

"Excuse me?" But she'd wanted him with her, didn't she? He wasn't going to leave.

"I want you to be the first," Phailin said quickly. "I want you to hold the baby first." She grimaced, and the girl started telling her to push again.

"Are you insane, girl—?"

Phailin's grandmother cut her daughter off quickly. "It is their child," she said, as if she was the definitive authority on the subject. "Let them decide how to celebrate the moment."

The Chinese girl hopped to the side to allow him close. It felt strange, to be where he was (especially with the two older women bickering in the background). The girl draped a towel over his hands and gave him heavily accented instructions, hovering over his shoulder like a watchful owl.

Phailin watched Wufei, half-tempted to laugh. He looked so confused, but she wanted no one else to hold their child more, if it couldn't be her. She clenched her teeth and gave it all she was worth. She'd lost muscle mass during the long period where she was incapable of training, but it was still well present. The sooner this was over with, the sooner she could rest.

The look on his face when an infant's cry broke through the thick, humid air was enough to tell her that the long wait had all been well worth it. No sooner had he rose to his feet cradling the small wailing bundle, however, than Phailin's mother swept it from his arms off to the back of the room. Wufei let out a small, wordless cry of protest and followed like a helpless child. Jen shot Phailin a look of amusement.

_I knew it_, Phailin thought. _It's a boy_. It couldn't have been anything else, she knew. He would have never admitted to be happier with a son, but it's very difficult to deny thousands of years of built-in tradition.

Finally, they allowed the baby back in his arms and he stood in the middle of the floor ultimately oblivious to anyone else, shifting the loose red blanket until the desperate crying died down at last. "Wu . . ." Phailin finally said, not wanting to disturb him too much but anxious for a chance to hold the baby too.

He glanced up, as if only just remembering where he was. He joined his wife, perching on her bed. "She's beautiful," he breathed, reluctantly surrendering the infant.

She thought he'd misspoke until she got a chance to study the small baby, still clutching at her father's finger. She realized why he'd been so speechless. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" she inquired quietly, looking up at him.

He nodded, speaking only a single word. "Merian." She looked even more like his first wife than even Phailin did, and it was easy to tell even this early. It was just that little bit more of Chang blood in her, they both knew.

Phailin didn't say it, but the name would already have stuck in all their minds. To tell the truth, she didn't mind at all. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes against Wufei's shoulder, feeling his heart beat strong.

**~~@[~*,~]@~~**

"It'll only give her more to worry about," Heero said, doing his best to reason with Zero. "I told you before, interfering now may only cost you both. Fortuna is a capable fighter. You know that probably better than I do. You just have to step aside and let her prove her own. Trust me."

::_Maybe I don't trust you,_:: Zero said, sounding a lot like Akiko when she was beaten but still trying to defy him.

_It's all part of growing up . . ._ Heero reminded himself, trying hard to restrain a chuckle. It hardly seemed so, but the precious bit of information from Ihminen that the gundams were still, in essence, children had done wonders for his understanding.

No matter what, though, Heero had regained control of Nulles' systems. "I'm flatly refusing to do it," he said. "I have been through this. Come now, you should know that we all need to stand on our own feet once and a while. You'll have her in your arms as much as you want later."

It was obvious something had happened when the gundams had been aboard the _Laiva_. Heero mused that it was probably a lecture on Zero's end, and a little softening up on Fortuna's. Zero's thoughts ran more along the lines of being with the other more than ever, his pilot sensed. He hadn't said anything, but it did make Heero long to be back home with his own family.

::_Maybe you're right,_:: Nulles said, startling him. ::_I've been selfish. We should go. This might be too painful to watch._::

"No," Heero said. "She'll want your support. Don't leave her behind. Don't worry; a little longer without Relena and Akiko and Raina isn't going to hurt me." _Besides, a little selflessness for a friend wouldn't be too bad once and a while._

**~~@[~*,~]@~~**

There she was, perched upon the shell of what had once been the _Gayla_, bloodred wingsfolded tightly against her lithe body. Fortuna glared at her sister, familial love that she should have felt for the gundam buried under the long list of detestable misdeeds and atrocities she had committed.

"_Dim natroac,_" Fortuna said, startling Marie badly. She'd never heard the gundam speak before, only mentally. They were words she didn't recognize; yet she understood their meaning. _I'm ready to face the universe._

"And I'll stand beside you," Marie added quietly.

"_Cha, neßerial_." The words vibrated even through the emptiness of space. _So you've survived._

::_I don't die easily, dear sister,_:: Fortuna said calmly as Inimicus sneered. Marie caught a bit of insight into the theory that was blossoming in her head. She'd never had siblings, growing up guarded in Dekim's many mansions, but there was something about family she'd learned with her friends and the Phantom Runners; something she'd learned from Ben and Dennis, and Cam especially. Even when she was angry with them, she had still loved them. Underneath her hostile feelings, Fortuna loved her sister and wanted nothing more than to have Inimicus simply change, while for her sister the red gundam felt nothing more than contempt and jealousy. Fortuna was extremely reluctant to fight, if only because she knew one of them wouldn't leave alive.

::_A pity._:: One thing about evil people is that they tended to talk to much, to hide their cowardice and confusion and misgivings. That had been Erik Beliv's trademark as a politician, and Marie was beginning to think that perhaps it happened with everything evil. ::_I see you've brought the child with you. Do you really need the help?_::

"I am not a child," Mariemaia said quietly, knowing full well that Inimicus could hear her. "Nor am I help. This universe is far greater than any of us will ever know. I intend to live my short life gathering all the knowledge I can. I am a road companion."

There was the equivalent of a snort. ::_You sound like those petty Earthen philosophers that our creators love so much. They're all fools, trusting their future in such a delicate, backwards race._::

::_Pray, tell what you have learned in your own studies, o wise one,_:: Fortuna retorted, growing impatient.

Inimicus left her perch and drew back her beam saber for a strike. ::_I have learned,_:: she responded with a hint of savage glee, ::_that all things being material, all things can be destroyed!_::

Fortuna blocked easily, choosing the defensive rather than the attack. She parried two more blows, one high, one sweeping low and to the left, executed a swift roll backwards, and paused, waiting for Inimicus to make another move, not taunting. All the while, Mariemaia ignored the battle (knowing she was nowhere near fast enough to be of much help there anyway) and pored over the comments. Her father's face flashed into her mind for some reason, and she remembered doing the math once. She would be turning twenty in November, Ben was a year older, as was Cam when he died, and Dennis was sixteen. Her father had been seventeen when she'd been conceived, eighteen when she'd been born. He had been twenty-four when he'd died. Milliardo had been a year younger when Operation Meteor had been dismantled, and Trowa, Heero, Quatre, Wufei, Duo and Relena had all been a mere fifteen at the height of the war— younger than she was now! Most of all, the most feared person for a period of hours had been a seven year-old girl convinced that her father had been a warmonger, when in fact a few words with Lady Une had changed her tune completely.

"If you want philosophy," she said finally as the two gundams whirled furiously in space, "I'll spout Earth philosophy. In recent times, our greatest warriors have been not famed legends packing great steel swords, but young people searching for meaning. I have come to believe that it is not the impulsiveness of youth that has defined war, as many would believe, but rather the importance of the understanding that comes with youth and sets with age. Some are too old to fight because they have set in their ways and are not impressionable. It is young people who give all people hope and strength and conviction, and that is because they believe in things such as the perfect moment that have disappeared from in front of the eyes of the old and the stubborn. All young people must fight to gain the knowledge, as I have, that everything has a beauty.

"It has been the belief of my father for longer than I have been willing to accept it that there can be battles without war. The human race can never cooperate fully. There are too many individuals, but those individuals make our species beautiful in turn. That's what my father saw in everything. There is even beauty in something outwardly ugly if you take the time to dissect it. It is the nature of every intelligent being to disagree and fight. Take that away and we have lost something irreplaceable. That is why other peoples love us. We have philosophy in despite of war, whereas no one else seems to have been able to achieve that. Earth is the counterbalance of morality in the universe. That is why we are so unique."

::_Enough! You're pointless babbling is annoying me!_:: Inimicus slashed as if she was swatting a fly.

::_Your blows are becoming sloppy,_:: Fortuna scolded, evading easily. The gundam was gaining strength with every word her pilot spoke, slowly realizing a little more about herself. ::_Anger has clouded your concentration, sister._::

::_You, shut up!_::

"Oh, but I'm not done," Marie told her. "Not by a long shot."

**~~@[~*,~]@~~**

Then there came the issue of where the baby and her mother would sleep. This time it was Wufei's turn to argue with Phailin's mother. He was not having very much success, considering how many prejudices the woman had against him. "She's my wife. I've lived without her by my side for the better portion of a year, and I want her sleeping next to me tonight!"

"I don't feel comfortable in this bed, mother," Phailin muttered sleepily, nursing their daughter with heavy arms. "I'm not used to it, and I won't know my way around the building in the middle of the night. Besides, there's no place for Wufei to stay and he wants to be close to the baby, as do I."

"I don't trust that Chang." The woman reverted back to familiar territory. "The whole line is bad blood. Murderous, thieving wifebeaters are what they are. There's no escaping it."

The young woman in the corner spoke up now, her voice hard. Wufei hadn't heard more than a few phrases from her since he'd first seen her, but now she seemed determined to defy the older woman. "You forget, Charunee, that Chatalerm and I also now live in your daughter's house. I am fully capable of handling newborn babies and have done it many times before, even in this village. Should both Phailin and Chang Wufei exhaust themselves, I will bend my back to the task without complaint. I have taken a lot of grief over the crimes of a few people. Those few people cost their entire clan to be banished. I will no longer tolerate such indignation in the light of those who have done absolutely nothing wrong!" She leapt to her feet, blushing furiously.

Wufei watched the girl, startled. Strange, how another Chang would find their way to the village, and how she stood up for herself. Most of the Chang survivors merely took insults with hung heads.

"I too won't stand for it," he added, to tired to argue any more. " Phailin is going to sleep in her own bed, under her own roof, with the rest of her family, tradition and murderous clan history aside." Without another word, he gathered the blankets around his wife and took her in his arms, out into the street. Normally, she would have protested and demanded to be put down and let to walk on her own, but she only sighed and put her head on his shoulder, holding Merian protectively out of the disagreeable Charunee's grasp. The frail little Chang girl scuttled out of the building behind them, not wanting to be alone with the woman's wrath.

There was still a crowd of villagers outside, all of whom cheered as they spotted Wufei carrying his wife like the hero out of an old storybook. Phailin grinned sheepishly and nuzzled his neck, eyes closed, contented beyond words and actions.

"Thank you for the defense." Wufei remembered the girl after he'd settled Phailin and Merian down into their respective bed and crib. "I'm glad there's more than one person who regrets our clan's past actions."

"I did learn it all from you," she said quietly, reverting back to the more comfortable language of their birth. Something felt oddly familiar about her now.

"I don't understand," he told her. "I get the feeling I should know you."

She smiled. "It's been many years, and I was but a child," she said. "I remember the kind boy who always saw something more in me than an easily breakable body and an obedient, soft heart. I've waited for so long to see you again, Wu Fei."

"No, I haven't forgotten you," Wufei said suddenly, realization dawning. "How could I ever forget someone I loved as much as my own dear little sister?"

Jen smiled and put her hands on his shoulders, happy for the moment to see her brother so overjoyed with new riches of family.

Wufei enveloped her in a tight hug, shunning stupid formalities in light of the knowledge that she hadn't died with the rest. "I should have known all along that you'd be smarter than that," he whispered.

Indeed, how could life get any better?

**~~@[~*,~]@~~**

"I wonder if Mariemaia ever made it here," Dennis said idly, staring out the window of the escape vehicle at the growing face of Earth. "Ben would have loved to see her one last time."

"Ben told me he wasn't staying," the man next to him said, shifting. "He said he's still got a girlfriend back home. It only takes about 5 people to run a ship that size; he wanted everyone else out even if they _wanted_ to stay."

"Really?" Dennis didn't dare trust the man's word. "He sounded so sure standing up on the bridge like that."

"He's a strange guy. I think maybe if he put a valiant image in people's minds we'd still be looked at as heros when the government starts processing traitors and deserters." The young man laughed, cobalt-blue eyes scanning their slowly spinning panorama.

****

"So what about you? Kicked out, I suppose."

"Nah. I still got a lot to live for . . . I hope." He motioned. "There they are. You see them? Sure are lighting the sky."

Dennis followed the gaze, watching for the telltale signs of a thermal weapon fight. "Yeah. Haven't seen that red one in a while. She must've been in hiding or something."

"Those gundams, Fortuna and Inimicus, they don't need pilots," the man told him, brushing slightly messy sandy-blonde hair from his face. "And they're going to tear each other apart at this rate." The fight drifted out of view again. "I hope Mariemaia found some way to escape," he said quietly, almost to himself.

"She always does," Dennis told him. "She's a survivor, that one."

Cam smiled and hugged the bag he'd packed full of things he knew she would have wanted to save. "So am I."

**~~@[~*,~]@~~**

They were on death's doorstep, yet Marie was enjoying herself. Knowledge such as she had come across was enlightenment, she'd concluded. She felt a lot better now that she understood it all, much as her father must have felt.

::_You've gone awfully silent for a little girlie who has more to say,_:: Inimicus teased, laughing.

Marie smiled coldly. "It'll go down in the history books as Inimicus's Paradox," she said, ignoring the snide comment.

::_Whatsee would that be?_:: Inimicus answered that one a little too quickly to have been merely sarcastic. The greedy thing was interested in anything with her name.

Fortuna wasn't going to let her get off that easy, though. She for the first time took the offensive, driving at her sister with her sword held in front. Inimicus barely dodged, spinning away just in time to avoid the deadly blade. _Your left!_ Marie told Fortuna urgently when she lost sight of her sister.

::_Thanks._:: Fortuna dodged right and brought her beam saber down to block.

_Anytime, friend._

::_Ah, refusing to answer. You haven't learned nearly as much as you think you have, little girl._:: Inimicus crowed and hurled a piece of debris at them. Fortuna dodged and sped after the red winged demon, cornering sharply around the curve of the _Gayla_. She was almost struck by another scrap of sharp metal, but Marie quickly assumed control of the gundam's free arm and caught it.

::_What would I do without you?_:: Fortuna praised her gratefully.

"Trust me, by the time I've finished explaining why this is a death-match, you'll never want to hear the inside of my thoughts again," Marie promised.

::_So why don't you start explaining? We're all anxiously awaiting truth, you know._::

Marie grinned. "If you insist, my impatient opponent.

"It first came to me when Heero started explaining to me Akiko's ideas about 'emotional energy,' centered on the basis that because all things in the universe are fundamentally energy, so must be thought and emotion. I began to remember my own reflections upon humanity, and how it seemed that there seemed to be no one person that was truly evil.

"Evil is the opposite of good. We all believe that because we were taught so as small children. As we grow, we lose any wondering about the lines between good and evil and accept the facts that we have been taught, because it makes it easier on our brains to be absolutely sure of something. I've done a lot of thinking these past months, and I realized that I am not going to sacrifice comfort for the truth, as complex and confusing as it may turn out to be.

"Then in the last stages of our growth, we come to see the shades of gray. The man who cheats on his wife is not really _evil_, merely immoral. The woman who sells her body on the streets is not _evil_, only a sinner. We beings of the universe have become so afraid of evil that we must find a way to redeem ourselves, when in fact we have only been satisfying deep down instincts that don't consider the emotional impact. Our complex emotions and the energy they create are what cause us to think in terms of good and evil. If it is painful, it is evil. If it feels good— except in rare cases that are utterly confusing when erratic beliefs and perversion take over— it's okay. I know the shades of gray well. I have lived in them for so long that I've forgotten what the color white looks like. But living there, I can tell you that there is much more to the story than shades of gray."

::_Very, very intriguing,_:: laughed Inimicus. ::_Such deep thoughts for one so wrong._::

"I'm not wrong," Marie retorted. "No one this sure can be _wrong_."

Fortuna slid across the _Gayla_'s hull, causing sparks, and kicked out with one slender, dark green leg. Inimicus caught the blow full in the chest, and went flying backwards.

"There is good and evil, right and wrong, happiness and sadness, and all of them weave together in a spectrum of color. All things must have as much variety in order to exist in this complex reality. Ihminen said that my father knew that Earth was a balance point, and I understand now. Humans are a perfect combination of philosophy and war, blood and beauty. We can regulate ourselves, whereas one or the other would have destroyed us long ago. The other worlds that he told me were from another galaxy that can no longer support life of any kind collapsed because they did not learn what I have now learned, and I have learned that you and Erik Beliv _must_ be killed."

::_Yet if everything is energy, will we truly die?_:: Inimicus swung her beam saber in a wide arc, taking off several feather tips from Fortuna's right wing.

Marie was silent, having the strange urge to scratch at wings she didn't have. Fortuna's pulse was almost deafening, and the faint veins on the walls were more prominent now. "The threat will be eliminated for the moment," she said finally. "True evil will never be killed entirely. It's too easy to fall victim to. It is those of us who believe themselves to be in the middle, not angelic but not evil, that balance the energy of the universe. If Earth is destroyed, the regulator will be lost. We will be too confused to believe in what we are anymore. Everything within us is who we believe ourselves to be, because who we think we are is what we become. Every action reflects our thoughts, and every thought's energy comes to support our place in the universe. If we believe what we are doing is right, it is. If we think we are wrong, we will be. It's karma on a level that I don't think monks have come to discover, mainly because they refuse to experience the violence that a soldier does. It all comes down to belief. Whatever you believe in _is_ your reality, and no one can take that away from you. I believe that I know, so I know."

::_You're talking in circles, foolish girl,_:: Inimicus scolded. Fortuna barely avoided a slice at her chest, barely blocked the next one at her neck. She was tiring, though Inimicus was too. Marie could sense her call for help, and lent her bonded all the strength she could manage.

"All that boils down to the simple fact that if the balance is destroyed, as it was in the other galaxy from which your creators came, everything will collapse. Everyone will die, because no one has had the time to flee. The energy will be eliminated, never to return. The gundams will perish, because they live off this energy as well. That is the Inimicus Paradox."

Fortuna let out a cry of surprise as she was thrown from the hull of the ship, scrambling desperately for a hold. Marie stopped her as she watched the _Gayla_ shudder with impact. "Something's hit it hard. We'd better get out of the way."

**~~@[~*,~]@~~**

"Sir, there's no chance of us making it to the surface now!" One of the surviving officers looked up at his Admiral with the expression of a scared little boy. "The atmosphere's going to burn everything up as full of holes as we are!"

"I know," Erik Beliv said quietly. He could hear air hissing from microline fractures all around him. The room's pressure was going down more rapidly with each passing second. Beliv surveyed the bridge with an eye of regret, sighing a little. Sparks were being thrown everywhere, and the red emergency lights only enhanced the scene of dead and dying men crushed by rubble or thrown by impacts themselves. The plan had failed rather sadly, but at least he wouldn't be around to watch his dreams crumble.

_Perhaps I was wrong to second-guess Treize_, he thought. _After all, his daughter would have no doubt understood him better than I do_. The officer that had spoken to him made a gaging sound and coughed, and Beliv suppressed one of his own. The sensation of being pulled apart could be felt now, and he knew it would be a painful way to go.

Fortuna and Inimicus flew by, just slow enough in Earth's gravity well to see. Inimicus . . . he chuckled. In Latin, the gundam's name meant 'enemy,' though according to Dorothy in her own language it was the equivalent of 'destiny.' How ironic, considering Fortuna's christening, 'fate' in Latin and 'friend' in her own language! What a traitor the red gundam had turned out to be, only trouble for him. That wench Catelonia had abandoned him too, no doubt to the Alliance's disadvantage.

Everything was ruined now. He should have never hired the scheming, secretive Ingraham for a captain. He had all that knowledge about those experiments and hadn't even told his commanding officer! The colonies would go back to being earth-friendly, and those damn gundam pilots had all survived.

The ship shook again as the Phantom Runners exacted their justice and the world went white with fire.

**~~@[~*,~]@~~**

Fortuna required reserves of energy that Marie just couldn't supply. Inimicus laughed much in a way that reminded her of her cousin Dorothy. ::_Had enough? Should I just kill you quickly and prove your poor little pilot wrong that I was the one to die today?_::

::_I will not allow it,_:: Fortuna said defiantly, weary voice still up to the challenge. The sun was poking up above Earth's horizon now, and the warm rays were starting to supply both mobile suits with much needed fuel. ::_There is still a life to live which you do not have to return to. I promised Nulles I wouldn't surrender to scum like you!_::

::_Suit yourself. Die slowly._:: Inimicus swung again, but miscalculated the distance. With a cry of pain, she stumbled across the blooming fireball of the _Gayla_. Space around them was starting to mist over as they began the long descent to the surface.

With one last spurt, Fortuna glided away from the expanding heat, thinking her sister finally destroyed. Resilience is always surprising, however, and Inimicus emerged, skin blackened and burning. ::_Not so fast! If I'm going down, I'm going to take you with me!_::

Marie couldn't speak with the pain. Nothing had touched her, but when she looked down she saw blood blossoming from under her flightsuit. The beam saber that had touched her gundam had somehow wounded her as well. As she watched through burning eyes, the beam saber fell from Inimicus's hands and violet eyes closed one last time.

::_The trouble with lifebonds . . ._:: Fortuna told her, managing to speak despite the pain they were both feeling. ::_Is that they tend to affect both partners equally. I'm sorry, Mariemaia._::

Marie shook her head sadly, pressing her palm against the wound and wincing. "Don't be. I for one think that this journey was well worth it. I'm sorry about Zero."

::_Me too. Listen . . . I want you . . . as soon as we get low enough in the atmosphere . . . I want you to jump. Don't protest. Maybe you'll live . . . there's no way I'll be able to get the kind of attention I need . . . but maybe you will._::

Marie nodded, too stricken with sacrifice to argue.

::_And tell Nulles . . . tell him I love him and always will._::

"I will," Marie promised, knowing she wished she'd had the exact same chance only a few months ago, as they tumbled alongside the remains of the ships that were burning in the sky, a beautiful show of falling stars that hid their true gruesome stories.

***********************************************

_Found a cure: Elephant Love Medly._

*Love lifts us up where we belong, where eeeeeeagles fly, on a mooountain high*

*Love makes us act like we are fools, throw our lives away for one happy day*

*We could be HEEROS! (Just for one day)*

Etc.

You know, I just noticed that typo two lines up. I think maybe I'll leave it in to give you guys a little laugh. I don't know many times I've typed that name, but I've started to substitute every "hero" I write with it. That is really pathetic. I hope I'm not the only one that's ever done that *bites fingernails.* God, now that I think about it I think I'm going to go over my old reports. I registered Heero's name in Word's dictionary so I wouldn't keep getting those annoying little red lines, so it wouldn't have shown up. I feel like an airhead . . .

*So excuse me forgetting 'bout these things I do. 'Cause you see I've forgotten if they're green or they're blue!*

So anyway, there's a new meaning to Cam's death, huh? As in that he's not really dead. It'd be pretty sad if he lost her now, huh? And that, too, she's finally come around to forgiving Treize (a little bit). The finale of the Great War ends in the next chapter of **AC 208: The Search for Truth (Part XIII): "One Breath."**


	13. One Breath

_*Just because IIIIIIIIIIIeIIIIIIIII will always loooooooooooove you*_

*IIIIIIIIIIIIIeIIIIIIIII can't help but love you*

(Pause for effect. Volume fades.)

*How wonderful I feel now that you're in the (split) wooooooooorld*

Uh oh, new song. *Takes breath.*

*Never known I could feel like this, like I've never seen the sky before*

*SLAP*

Thanks Mara. I think I needed that if I'm going to get more than half an hour of sleep. Must remember that I have a job tomorrow . . .

**(Part XIII) "One Breath"**

Someone was calling her name. Distant, a gentile deep smooth voice, a voice filled with fear and longing and worry. It drew harmonies out of the nothingness that she'd never known existed. It made her want to cry— if only she could figure out how. She saw stars, millions of them, glittering like jewels among the spectrum colors of the Milky Way and other galaxies. His voice seemed to echo against the stars, giving the universe a crystalline quality. He pleaded, "Don't go Marie, please . . ." over and over again.

She opened her eyes and the pain struck. Her side was on fire, and had no water. The outcry was involuntary— as was the spasm that made it hurt worse. It felt like she'd been paralyzed and connected to a live wire. "Why can't I just die?" she moaned. "Be merciful for once!" There were so many people she missed. Her lover was dead, her father haunting her, and Fortuna was worse than gone.

"Don't go. You've got so much ahead of you in life. Don't throw it all away tempting fate, as I did." The voice was still resonant, but now it drew tones from the wreckage and stagnant water settling around in the wreckage of the ship. There was his face, hovering in the night with an electric-blue aura.

He really was quite handsome, she observed with a light head, unable to distract herself. She looked like him. The red in her hair resulted from the combination of his orange and her mother's chestnut-brown. The thought flicked by in less than a second, but for that instant the pain had lessened. That was a little thing to be grateful for, at least.

"My child," he started, looking as though he was about to cry.

"Don't call me that," she managed brokenly aloud.

"No!" The outburst was sudden, accompanied by a blast of chilly, biting wind. "I've kept this to myself long enough, and you have to know. I _won't_ let you be torn away from me by dying!"

She could see a front rolling in from the east; the colors of the rising sun were spreading over them. She could feel her pulse racing through her, bringing with it a feeling of intense fear and desire. Her abdominal muscles clenched again, but she was unable to curl up, her arm pinned under a scrap of debris. It throbbed, too. It was just the stab wound that burned, though. Her throat closed up entirely and she had nowhere to apply her thoughts.

Then, there was a blessed relief, a cold that after a moment was wonderfully numbing. She realized that he was pressing his ghostly hands against her charred flesh. He caught her eyes before she could look away and it finally came to her just how sad he seemed.

"You were so young," he said, the first to break her gaze. "Seven times I tried, seven! A con artist would have been proud at my plans, and yet Dekim managed to get you back every time. I remember our only Christmas. You were five. Tell me you remember, Marie."

She wanted to say no, she didn't remember, but as soon as he touched her forehead with an icy palm she felt the memories flooding back, finally freed after so long. He had been so kind and gentile, caring and attentive like she'd never known among the Bartons, and it had only been for three days that they were together in a small cabin deep in the snowy woods. When Dekim had come for her with his bodyguards, she hadn't wanted to go.

****

"Everything was for you. I hoped that if I could overpower Dekim I could take you back. I resigned from the counsel hoping that Dekim would be too distracted to care for you closely. He called and taunted me after he poisoned your mother. I tried to hang him with that, but he had hidden the evidence well.

"You were the most beautiful little baby, Marie," he continued wistfully. "I remember I got to hold you once, right before Dekim caught me. It was so amazing . . . I'd never realized that babies were so tiny and helpless. My arms have ached ever since then, and not even your grandfather could stop me from trying to get close to you."

Every late-night visit had left the little girl wondering who he was.

"And then, snooping around in Dekim's records, I cam across Fortuna and Ihminen. I was the first to realize what you so accurately called the Inimicus Paradox, but before I could tell anyone, I was killed. This whole time, my only thoughts have been on letting you know when the time came. Little did I realize you'd figure it out on your own."

"I thought you'd come to ask my forgiveness for everything you've done," Marie said. That was what had been so unforgivable, but he hadn't mentioned it at all. Her voice seemed clearer now, stronger. She knew he was lending her all his residual energy. His image was fading, the sky growing brighter behind him.

There was silence for a long moment between them, father and daughter sharing a secret, sacred moment. Marie realized that she was afraid to die now. She didn't want to lose this moment where everything seemed so perfect.

"One breath, Mariemaia," he whispered. "If I could have one breath, one moment to spend in this world, it would be to tell you how proud I am and how much I love you. It is a privilege to be a father to a woman like you. I just wish I could have been there for you. I tried so hard, but I guess it wasn't nearly hard enough."

He was fading fast, and somehow she knew he wouldn't be coming back. All his energy was being used to keep her alive. "Don't—" she started, but he held up one almost invisible hand.

"To perish for my beautiful daughter, there is no greater gift I could give," he told her.

"I'd rather you stayed," she said, controlling clenched muscles enough to grab his arm.

It took her a long minute to realize that she shouldn't have been able to grip him. The look on his face said that he was just as surprised as she. Marie realized that his skin was growing more solid, warmer.

All things being energy, indestructible, nothing ever truly dies.

A piece of wreckage broke under his knee, and Treize staggered with a look of astonishment, staring at his own hands. He looked back at his daughter, and they shared a moment of unbelieving before Marie shuddered with the return of the burning in her side.

"Hey, can anyone hear me?" Wasting no time, he shoved his hands under the debris crushing Marie's arm and most of her shoulder. "Hello?" He called again, straining against the weight. "Hold on, sweetheart. We'll get you out of here."

But his image, instead of fading, blurred with everything around him. Mostly out of multiple layers of shock, Marie blacked out again.

**~~@[~*,~]@~~**

"No . . ." Cam shoved his way through the wreckage. He could see people congregating up ahead. He just hoped they hadn't found someone dead. It felt like years since he'd seen Marie. He'd sat up late every night aboard the ship watching her pretty face worry and fret, knowing that, behind her words, she was grieving for he who was not dead. He'd wanted to scream that Beliv had been too much of a coward to kill him, but too devious to tell her. He spotted Dennis and ran for him.

"Cam, you haven't found Marie, have you?" They'd all seen her fall.

"I was hoping you had." Cam rubbed his head, which felt as if it were in a vice.

Dennis tossed him a flashlight. "It'll be quicker if we split up."

Cam nodded and started back the way he'd came.

The dawn was eerie and filled with shadows. Cam winced every time something crunched underfoot, trying not to think about what it might have been. He strained his ears to their fullest (his jaw was starting to ache), but he heard nothing.

A loud, warbly crash echoed through the rubble, accompanied by a very human yell. Cam jumped and broke into a run.

A man's figure emerged from a pit of distorted metal, holding in his arms a body Cam recognized immediately, feeling his stomach drop. "Marie!" he choked, staggering.

"Hey, you there, go find a medical personnel now! She's hurt!" The voice was commanding and edged with panic. "What are you standing around for?"

"I— is she bad?" Cam whispered, trying his best to keep calm.

"Fairly, and she needs help!" He was angry now, more urgent. Cam found himself obeying without thinking.

"Bring her over here," he called, motioning back to the gathering of people. He'd seen ambulance lights there. The man was murmuring gently to Mariemaia, and she was replying, muffled by his shirt. He dropped back a few paces so he could listen.

"Hold on, sweetheart. We'll get you to a hospital. You'll be all right."

" . . . Father . . . "

"Sh, now, don't talk."

Marie fell silent, and Cam glanced back at them, knowing she must have been delirious. She was clutching at his shirt and nuzzling him like a child.

They got back, and the strange man handed Marie over to a leaving emergency vehicle with a hint of reluctance. Cam inquired everywhere about her condition, but the meds had just given him exasperated "I don't know"s and told him off.

"D'you . . . think she's gonna live?" he asked the man who'd carried her in.

Standing beside him, he brushed a stray carrot-blonde hair out of his eyes, yellow sun rising behind him. He put a hand on the other's shoulder gently. "She'll be all right, Cam."

**~~@[~*,~]@~~**

Forgotten in the wastelands of the desert, Pennes Nulles drifted down among the ancient Pyramids on the Nile River in Egypt, the Land of Eternal life. It had once so been called by its ancient people. He felt like crying, beneath his mask. It had been a long time since he'd felt that way, and that was no accident. Fortuna stirred, hugging his neck tightly and drifting in and out of consciousness alongside Mariemaia. He could do nothing for her pain.

The city of Cairo stretched before them, millions of people pausing at the sight of the two winged gundams among the eternal sands of Egypt. Zero laid her gently among the dunes, shining brightly in the morning sun. Mariemaia had been safe hours ago in a hospital not far from them, but Fortuna was still dying. She would use all her energy trying to heal, and she would run out. Once that happened, she would never reawaken as he was able to two years ago.

He knelt over her, spreading golden wings to shade her from the scalding sun. Weakly, she reached up with a slender arm to push aside his armored mask. "_Show me your face, Nulles. Let me see your eyes,_" she whispered. "_Don't . . . be afraid . . ._"

He reached up and slid it up into his helmet, realizing he had been afraid to show her an indifferent face, one that would hurt her. She smiled, though, never fearful when she knew more than he could even guess. "_Don't leave me,_" he pleaded. They'd both come too far to lose everything now. "_Please . . . I love you._"

She closed her eyes as if in ecstasy, though he knew he'd lose her if she drifted. "_You've no idea . . . how long I've waited . . . to hear that._"

"_We take it for granted,_" he told her, shaking her shoulder. "_Open your eyes!_"

"_I'm . . . so tired,_" she muttered, grasping at his hand.

"_You can't sleep,_" he cried desperately. She only moaned in response, and out of his frustrations, he hit her across the face.

She whimpered, but her eyes opened. They gazed at him in anger, as no doubt her face stung, but it would have been minor as compared to the gaping hole in her side. "_Now is the time you won't leave me alone, when all I've wanted for years is to be by your side._"

"_And I'm sorry I haven't been there for you,_" he said, "_but the past cannot be undone. Tell me I have a future to make up for it in!_"

"_I'm dying, Nulles._" One black-feathered wing brushed lightly against his leg, where if she could not lift an arm to touch his pale face she could still caress him with affection and sadness. "_I love you, and I will always love you, but I can't simply undo this!_"

Something clicked in the back of his head suddenly, and looked at her with newfound hope. "_No . . . there is a way,_" he said excitedly.

"_You're ready to make that sacrifice?_" she asked, sensing his thoughts. "_I thought you had always been opposed._"

He stroked her face, meeting Fortuna's dark hazel eyes with no sign of regret. "_I've finally found a reason for wanting to give it all up. I'm tired of fighting. I'm tired of fearing for your life. If it means I can continue to be with you, why would I pass it up before it's too late?_"

She smiled, ebony features lighting up with a happiness that words would never describe, even in their own romantic tongue. Suddenly the world seemed alive again.

Zero took her gently back into his arms and closed his eyes, digging through files in his head until he found the initiation sequence that would place an irreversible new life within them both. He enfolded them both in shimmering golden feathers, awash with the light of a bright day.

****

~~@[~*,~]@~~

Two weeks and a day later in the dry air of Cairo General, the doctor declared Mariemaia healthy enough to have visitors. Again and again she related the story of her stay on the _Laiva_ and all she'd learned there, cradled in Cam's unresisting arms, silent tears of joy rolling down her face. None of the pilots present related much surprise to the fact that Treize was alive once more, and agreed to keep the secret safe, so long as he promised not to interfere with the workings of the world anymore. "I'm perfectly content just being with my daughter," he assured them all, laughing.

"I don't understand how," Duo, an admitted witness of the very same kind of miracle.

"I think maybe I was causing them too much trouble in the afterlife, too," Treize jested, though secretly he was as stumped as the rest. Marie was allowed to finish her story then, and Akiko beamed at being right about the energy of thought, sitting at Marie's feet. 

"That might just be it, that something caused his existential energy to be incarnated back into a material body," Quatre said, and every except Marie and Treize looked at him in puzzlement. The blonde shook his head, just as little Quatre sneezed in Noin's arms. "Anyway, I found out what was up with Wufei when he just ran off."

No one had heard a word from the Chinese man in weeks. "What happened?" Trowa asked curiously.

"He's down in Thailand with Phailin and his daughter. He said he'd probably be up here in a few days, but he didn't want to put the baby at risk by moving around too much." Quatre carefully hid a smile at the other's faces. So many pairs of wide eyes was comical.

"Tell him not to worry about it," Marie said, first to recover. "He doesn't have to come up here. Let him enjoy the little one."

"What's her name?" Relena asked.

"It's the most obvious one." Quatre chuckled.

"Merian," several of them said at once.

"I wonder why he didn't tell us," Heero mused.

"Claimed he had no idea Phailin was even pregnant when he left," Quatre answered. "That must've come as a nasty surprise."

"No doubt," Duo said, scanning the floor for his own son, who was babbling happily under the hospital bed with Raina. Sophie squeezed her husband's hand.

"Miss Khushrenada," called the nurse, sticking her head into the room. "You've got more guests."

"Send them in," said Marie, puzzled. Everyone seemed to be in the room already!

The moment the two women entered, however, she don't know how she could have forgotten them. No sooner had they both entered, though, then one backed out again, both hands over and open mouth, eyes wide in panic. Treize swore under his breath and chased Une out into the hallway. "Who was he?" Dorothy demanded, turning not to Marie but Quatre.

Quatre took her aside, grasping both her hands gently in a whispered conversation. Milliardo and Trowa glanced at each other with bemused expressions. Quatre generally didn't make gestures like that.

"It can't be true," Dorothy said aloud, loud enough for the rest of them to hear.

Out in the hall, Treize finally managed to pin Une against the wall long enough to get her to listen to him. As gently as he could manage while handling his frustrations. "How could you possibly—?" she glared at him with a sudden false rage, angry with her assumption that he was a fraud.

"You're name is April," he said quickly, managing to capture her attention. _No one_ knew that Lady Une even had a first name except one person, who she had told after eliminating the records that had her registered under the aforementioned title. That person had been her lover Treize. "Not because it was the month that you were born in but because when you were born your eyes were the color of April flowers, though they changed a few days later." He paused for breath, watching her expression turn from anger to pain. "When you were shot, I found you, took you to my safe-house and cared for you there. You slept in my bed for that month, I in the armchair in the same room. One day while I was out . . . you got out of bed and discovered all my photos of Mariemaia. I . . . I told you everything that night, and you promised that you'd help me get her back, and we'd live together . . ."

"It really is you," she breathed, brown eyes filling with tears. Those were precious secrets between them, and there was no way anyone else could have known about those private moments. Every word of it was true. "God, Treize, what the _hell_ are you doing here?"

He'd forgotten just how much he'd missed her, as she fell against him. "For the love of a daughter, one will do just about anything," he murmured, squeezing her waist. "Sometimes, the truth is harder to accept, and requires the most desperate measures."

**~~@[~*,~]@~~**

"Wufei, where's Merian?" Phailin opened the bedroom door, blinking sleepily and holding her robe closed with one hand.

Wufei looked up sharply, having been awoken from a nap after going out around noon for a long soak in the bathhouse. "I thought she was in there with you."

"She's was, but she's gone!"

The blood drained from Wufei's face. "Stay here," he ordered, looking around for his sword. He snatched it from the table and ran out, door slamming behind him.

It wasn't hard to track the infant's cries once she started. Wufei pursued her, grumbling to himself about moments of peace. It seemed strange that a kidnapper would stick to the main street, but once he rounded the corner in his bare feet, he understood.

A middle-aged monk with a bemused expression was listening to Phailin's mother testify that she was an unholy child.

"She is tainted with murderous blood, sir. I pray you will save her from her accursed name—"

"I have had just about enough of this!" Wufei roared, approaching the woman at a furious pace. "I don't know why you fear me so much, woman, but any person I ever killed was not because I desired to kill! Any pilot in my position would have done the same. As for your husband and your father, I'm sorry, but it's not as if I ordered their deaths. Jen is innocent, I have pleaded forgiveness day and night for the last decade, and still you persecute us for things we have not done. I have the right mind to leave this place right now and never return. I'm sure Phailin would support me, too!"

"Now, what is this, Charunee? Surely a man so angry at you speaks the truth? Is this your daughter, good sir?"

"She is," Wufei answered as politely as he could manage, reaching for the squalling baby in his orange-robed arms. "If I could be so good as to have her back . . ."

The monk's face twinkled merrily and he handed her over promptly. Merian started to calm down right away. He laughed as Phailin's mother sputtered. "You are Phailin's husband Wufei? She's spoken to me at great length about you. I was expecting to hear news of the child any day. This is her?"

"Y— yeah," Wufei said, a little startled. You don't usually get friendly with monastery monks.

"Chatchom!" Phailin's voice was filled with relief. "I suppose you're at the middle of this, aren't you?"

"Ah, Phailin, it's good to see you. You look quite fit for a new mother!"

Phailin laughed and took his offered hands. "You flatter me, uncle. It was good of you to come all this way. What happened?"

"The usual Chang paranoia from your mother, I think," Chatchom said as if was nothing at all to worry about. "She was insisting on me holding a purification ceremony, but I hardly think that's necessary."

Phailin scowled at the round woman. "What would she need to be cleansed for? Wufei's been pulling so much of the burden these past weeks that I'm surprised he isn't sleeping as much as I am! _He's done nothing wrong_." Turning away from her bashed mother, she nodded to her husband. "Oh, Wu, this is my father's brother Chatchom. Surely you remember my stories."

"Oh, _that_ uncle!" Wufei bowed awkwardly with Merian clinging to his shirt. "I never get tired of those exploits, do I?"

"It is finally good to meet the man who won my niece's heart," chuckled Chatchom brightly. "Buddha knows, that isn't an easy task!"

"Can we offer something to eat, uncle?" Phailin relieved her husband of the sleeping Merian and shook a piece of loose blue-black hair from her shoulder.

"Rice and water would be much obliged after this long journey," Chatchom sighed.

**~~@[~*,~]@~~**

"What do you think will happen to the other gundams?" Duo asked quietly, looking pensive. "I suppose we should let them decide, huh?"

Heero shook his head. "They were never able to achieve what Zero and Fortuna have in the way of intellect. They still run on conventional fuel. We just didn't have the technology that our interstellar friends had. I don't know how useful they'll be as time goes by. You're probably right, though, Duo. We should let them decide for themselves. I don't think it would be wise to destroy them again. Not only would some people call it murder, but it would only tempt someone else to bring them back."

"A very strong point," Duo admitted.

"So what's happened to Fortuna? I can sense that she's not dead, but I can't communicate with her either." Marie finally found an opening in the discussion and wedged herself into it.

Heero looked at her, a somewhat mischievous grin on his normally solemn face. Before he could answer, though, Trowa reached over and opened the curtains on her window. "They haven't moved since they got here," he told her, motioning outside.

The hospital was high-rise, and if she leaned over (much to Cam's anxiety) she could see out into the desert. There, on the border to the city, were two forms locked in an embrace, bathed in a luminous green light.

"Fortuna told me about it," Treize told them all. "It was a small snippet of conversation I almost forgot, but when the _Laiva _and her sister ship the _Gesakyre_ created the gundams, they built some kind of transformation into the machinery. The gundams can translate their programming into DNA. The process is irreversible once initiated, and when complete they will no longer be able to host a pilot. The best way to describe it is like a very fast adolescence. They were children, now they have grown up, as children tend to do. They will be living creatures, but they will not consume natural resources the same way we do. They will still be able to live in space, but I think those two might prefer to live on Earth."

"What do you mean by that?" Trowa asked. Marie noted with some satisfaction that her foster uncle finally seemed to be getting over the twinges of jealousy he'd been trying to hide since he'd met her father. She'd had to remind him a few days ago, before he'd left with the others, that she still loved him, too.

Treize shrugged. "Well, both their lifebonded will be here— yes, the bonds will hold even through the transformation— and I would assume they'll want to start a family of their own."

Everyone gave him disbelieving looks.

"I mean it. Once they become creatures like us, they'll be able to reproduce just like any other animal. It was built in."

"Will their children be able to host pilots?" Quatre asked, sounding intrigued. His hand was still on Dorothy's shoulder.

"I believe so. You'll have to ask them when they come around," Treize answered.

As if he'd said some kind of password, Marie gestured wildly back to the window, where she could see something strange happening to the egg-like green shell. With the rest of the room gaping, the light fizzed once, then faded gently. Even from their vantage point miles away, they saw Pennes Nulles blink the palest blue eyes and shake his head to flick long strands of white-blonde hair over one magnificently sculpted, cream-colored shoulder. His shimmering gold wings settled in his lap (as even gundams have some modesty), covering Fortuna as well. The female gundam awoke more slowly, as if from a deep sleep. She contrasted to Zero completely, ebony arms flung around her love's neck, black hair draping down against her own wings, spread out upon the sand like a fallen eagle's. Even from this distance Mariemaia could see the curve of shallow breasts before they disappeared beneath Nulles' protective feathers, long slender calves sprawled on the ground.

"Wow," Akiko said, looking back at Mariemaia. "Now they really _do_ look like angels."

Nobody chuckled at the cute remark made by the eight year-old girl, because they were all thinking exactly the same thing. Marie felt herself shudder, and realized with a start that she could feel Fortuna fully again. She quickly shielded herself— she didn't want to pry into a personal moment.

Angels they were— angels in the model of Earth. Marie remembered one of Ihminen's many conversations with her. _"We have been watching, listening, and appreciating the human race for many, many years,"_ he had said. _We all— my people especially— think that you are the most beautiful of all. That is why, underneath their armor, we designed the gundams to look human. They are supposed to represent everything we appreciate and respect, and every time I remember that, studying our creations with pride, it makes me shiver. Fortuna and even Inimicus are like the daughters I never had. They are that way to all of us."_

A great sigh seemed to pass through the world, certainly the city, a sigh that summed up every beauty, every strength and every conviction that two people could ever hold. People going about their daily activities in the streets stopped, glancing in awe at their guests. Cam kissed her gently, feeling her shake. Behind the others, Quatre and Dorothy reached for each other's hands. Marie had finally been told the story of the Sanc Kingdom's latest rise and fall, and she wondered if Quatre hadn't found a little more out there than he claimed. She didn't say anything about it.

Une had rushed out of the city early that morning to wrap up some new little spark, leaving Treize alone once he'd finally began to feel at home again. He'd complained about it a little before he realized he sounded selfish, but none of them had blamed him in the slightest. Everyone present knew what it was like to miss someone. Everyone present knew how hard the complications of life were to accept.

Marie lay back against Cam's shoulder, trying to share the gratifying moment with him as best she could without straining her healing wound too much. The heavy painkillers made her drowsy, but she'd fought sleep with everything to spend moments with him, making up for their months of separation. He'd promised her that once she was released, he'd take her back to his home in southern France among the endless miles of vineyards and farms. She could meet his mother and his dog, and they'd sit out in the clear dark nights and watch the stars until they fell asleep in the gently swaying hammock on his porch. It had all sounded so nice to her when he'd told her about it that she'd fallen asleep listening to his lulling voice.

In fact, thinking about it now just made her want to draw the next day nearer.

After a while, Trowa nudged the others and gestured to his niece. "I think we should call it a day," he suggested softly. One by one, they filed out of the room, still chatting happily, still in good spirits now that the press of war had been taken off their minds.

Treize rolled his chair back into its corner and glanced at Cam. "You're not coming?" he asked.

Cam shrugged, moving Marie over until she was lying on her bed and not him. "Right now the only thing I want is to be with her. Besides, I don't really have any other place to be."

"Nonsense," Treize said, sticking out a hand. "It's been a long time since I've talked to any of my old friends. I should have known not to tell stories about my precious little daughter to a scamp like you."

"It took me forever to convince her you were really all right, as a human being," Cam admitted, accepting the tug up from his sitting position. He stretched a little, for the first time realizing that he'd been sitting for way too long. "Don't think she would believe that you had a thing for kids, as much of a politician as you were."

"Once a parent, always a parent," Treize sighed, leaning over to kiss Mariemaia's forehead gently. "There's bound to be a good lunch somewhere around here. I'd like a chance to sit around and catch up on current events."

"I'm not exactly your best person for news. Heero would probably know more than me," Cam admitted, brushing sandy-blonde hair out of his face. "I've been out of the loop for a couple of years, running around with rogues of my own kind."

Treize punched him lightly in the arm and shut the door (not noticing the faint smile on his daughter's supposedly sleeping face). "I think anything in the last decade will suffice for the moment!"

**~~@[~*,~]@~~**

"Welcome back into the world, my love," Nulles said, rubbing Fortuna's side with a grin on his pale features. Fortuna looked up at him in surprise, noticing the drastic differences with a new eye. Nothing _felt_ different, except that her abdomen no longer was hollow, but it was so strange to see Zero without armor. The pain was gone, too, with not even a scar. Everything had gone exactly how _Laiva_ had described . . . only words could never describe the way the world felt completely new.

She looked down at herself, never having really seen a female body without clothes on before. How strange it was! Nulles, too, was different in a way that was startling. He had handsome, powerful features,. Fortuna suddenly realized just how much clothes can hide. It was so hard to tell exactly what anyone looked like under bundles of cloth.

"Everything seems so unreal," she answered, glancing around. Everything was exactly how it had been before . . . except that it wasn't.

"The war is over," he explained. "The people know it, and rejoice even still. It's amazing how joy outlasts despair."

"Like how love outlasts hate? And frustration? And time?" There were a thousand different examples she could have used to punctuate her words, but Nulles would have known them already. "For a human, it takes many more muscles to frown than to smile. Why go for the choice that is only more effort?"

He nodded. "Exactly."

Fortuna wrapped her wings around herself like a cloak, knowing that in this kind of environment especially clothes served more protection than merely against the elements, and stood, testing her new legs, her new arms and new eyes. "You know," she observed, "I think perhaps in truth we were more limited as machines than as animals."

"Oh?" He draped an arm across her shoulders, following her gaze into the city. "And why would you say that?"

"As a machine, I could only see the features of others as they went about all the things that made up their little lives. I always ended up having to remind myself why I existed."

"I gave up on that after a while," Nulles said. "After I stopped feeling. There was nothing left. I wanted to die."

"But now," Fortuna continued, scanning the activities of the bustling outskirts of Cairo with fulfillment, "now I can see inside myself. I can consider myself one of this vast community of beings that has no gigantic, heroic purpose to complete. We no longer have to believe we are better out of necessity, but only part of the whole that weaves the threads of the universe itself. There is something out there that, be it God or be it only a figment of my thoughts, all consciousness has created and supports. It is neither good nor evil, and it demands nothing more of us than to continue living our lives, and to be happy with what we have, how little or how much that means for us to be satisfied."

"All I need to be satisfied right now is you by my side and a little privacy," Zero murmured in her ear.

She laughed, a laugh that, too, surprised her. It wasn't a strange laugh, or one you'd necessarily pick out of a crowd. It was a laugh that was full of satisfaction, a laugh that said that she had seen the darkest side of the mind and had emerged from the brambles scratched but ultimately victorious. It was the laugh that made people think of bridle bells and reminded children of snow and a warm fire to curl up beside. It was a laugh that washed away sadness, and the world seemed to stop to listen and enjoy it.

Blocks away, she spied her great friend Treize and Marie's lover Cam Nolon wave to them, grins on their faces. She and Nulles both waved back, and Fortuna knew why Mariemaia had suddenly seemed so devoid of mourning. All had been forgiven, and the thing she had feared had not in fact taken place, just as Fate had suspected. The pilots and their families and companions had already spread around, and as water forms puddles or makes round blotches in cloth they would spread their happiness to those around them. Soon the small problems would be put aside and a peace restored.

"I can't help but feel that it may have been worth it after all," she told Nulles quietly.

"Worth what?" he inquired.

"Every sacrifice we've made . . . every life that was taken— and given . . . every person who lost a home or family or anything else will grieve now, but when tears are dried, I think this may be one war the human race will not regret."

"Why? It is a curious thing, not to regret something so devastating to so many people."

"Because it has taught us so many things." Fortuna slipped an arm around his warm waist, watching the people move, watching the sun climb higher in the sky, and watching the sparse clouds drift overhead in an endless, random waltz.

The gundams were truly everything that symbolized hope on Earth, she thought, because they were able to see it in everything and help others see it in themselves.

_We do not breathe, but we are as alive as anyone. We contribute to the community of minds that supports everyone and helps them grow. Our hearts beat strong for our friends and for ourselves. That is what counts in this world of conflicts and confusion._

*****************************************

Whoo . . .

*Come what may, come what may*

*I will love you until my dyyyyyyying day!*

*Suddenly the world seems like such a perfect place*

*Suddenly moves with such a perfect grace*

*Suddenly my life doesn't seem such a waste . . .*

and ultimately so on.

So what happens now? Seems like such a good ending, but I had another chapter to fill. So here's what's up next: the epilogue! Ten years after, is yet another war brewing or have this one's lessons finally stuck? Beautifully set to the translation of TWO~MIX's "Last Impression" (slightly modified for comprehension purposes), you're just a few clicks away from **AC 208: The Search for Truth (Part XIV): "Prologue: AC 218; Resiliance."**


	14. Epilogue: AC 218; Resiliance

__

Okay, new CD. Megumi Hayashibara . . .

*Kimi wo mamoru tame kono chi ni*

*Kimi to deau tame umareta*

*Mezameta shunkan kau*

*Mawari hajimeru Purizumu*

*Kimi wo ai suru tame ni ima*

*Kimi wo idaku tame umareta*

*Uso mo Shinjitsu mo*

*Subete Jibun no naka ni aru*

"Successful Mission . . ." Catch a little meaning maybe? I'm DONE with this thing! (Yes, for all of you that speak Japanese I know those words kinda fit this chapter better than they do their own title at this point. That's a little weird, since I didn't find out what the words meant until after_ I wrote them here. Never really paid attention.)_

Anyway, I'll remind you guys to pay close attention to the title of this chapter: this is ten years after the war, twenty-two years after Endless Waltz.

****

AC 208: The Search for Truth (Part XIV)

"Epilogue: AC 218; Resilience"

_ If there are glances that communicate_

more deeply than words,

People will all live on freely

without losing their way

"If you will all be seated quickly," the teacher told his only class of history students, "I have a special surprise for you all day." There were a few groans and desperate glances between his students, but he held up a hand. "I know there is only a week left in the term, but your undivided attention would be much appreciated. You will not be tested on this. This is a day of free learning, a day for inquiring minds to find answers. If I may introduce to you, Mr. Heero Yuy."

There was a hush through the class as they soaked up the image of the small man who stood up from his chair in the corner, scanning the hall of thirty-some students, among them his own anonymous daughter, who gave him a quick glance of surprise. He clasped his hands behind his back and smiled, the beginnings of crow's feet wrinkling in the corners of blue-gray eyes. "Good afternoon to you all. I'm sure you have many questions you would like to have answered today about myself and the things I have seen. One many of you will no doubt want answered I can tell you now; Yes, I am the _real _Heero Yuy, gundam pilot, peacemaker, husband to Relena Darlian and father to two beautiful daughters and two incredible sons.

"If you'll allow an old man a moment of reminiscing," he continued to the still thunderstruck pupils, "I want to share with you why I am here today. It has been nearly ten years since our world has felt war, and most of you in here probably don't remember with clarity what it was like to fear for your life. Most of you probably don't understand the heavy presence in the back of your mind that you or someone you loved would die today. I wish upon you nothing more than that it continues to be that way, but when the human race grows lazy, we forget, and we try to make things more interesting again. I have spent many years pondering over my past actions, wondering if I should feel guilty or if I should have allowed myself to forget so the memories don't pain me, but every time I conclude that the memories _must_ remain painful. All of you have learned about the last fifty years of war and devastation, but few of you will be able to see the impact it has had on this world and the world of every living thing in this universe. I want you to ask me questions, about anything. Ask me about my family, my friends, ask me about the war, or the gundams. Most of all, I want you to ask yourselves why you have taken this class in the first place."

The single R'hynol in the back room raised a timid, four-fingered hand. Heero reflected offhandedly about how quickly the human race had been to integrate with other species— and how many species had wanted to live on their planet. "I don't . . . understand," the large-eyed female struggled in heavily accented Japanese, "about Oplerti— Oprat— Operation Meteor. Shouldn't more people . . . ah . . . have known?"

Heero smiled reassuringly at her. "By the time I'm done explaining that, you'd have wished you hadn't asked." With that said, he launched into a detailed description, starting with Operation Comet that dated back to before humans even had space travel. He took nearly a quarter of an hour outlining the story, but no one seemed to be bored.

They went through everything he'd hoped, and a little more. Heero found himself happily explaining the lives today of all his friends and family, though Akiko shook her head desperately from the back row when he was asked their names. "I wouldn't disclose that information without permission," he'd told the girl as gently as he could.

__

Overcoming our mistakes, we realize

what true kindness is

together, you and I discovered

the strength of love

At last, someone asked about the gundams. Fortuna and Pennes Nulles hadn't really been much of a public thing these days, and hadn't been since Une's closing speech in Moscow a month after the war had ended. Heero had promised the two his own vast property to live on, and he saw them often enough, but they had enough of their time taken up trying to raise their own little son, who indeed could be piloted. They were happy leading smaller lives, but they still had a message for those who were willing to listen. "Everyone gets a second chance," Heero said to a hushed audience, concluding his description of the Fortuna, Inimicus, Epyon and Pennes Nulles's creation, lives, and (in half the cases) death. "I know I've had several. We must take advantage of everything in this world, for it is all a gift. Love your family, no matter how obnoxious or unbearable they are, as Fortuna still mourns her sister and Zero his brother. Believe. You don't have to believe in God— I never did— or in others, or even yourself so long as you believe that there is something right in the world. Believe in love, or believe in a wishing star. That is the key to life, resiliance. There are so many forms that you don't have to look hard, so whatever you do _don't_ turn a blind eye. That becomes anger, hatred, prejudice and greed. To commit crimes against your fellow human beings is not unique to our people" (here the young R'hynol hung her head) "but look what it gained the others like Chandra, whom I hope you treat with the greatest respect, to have come all this way to learn from us. She can never go home because there is no home for her to go back to."

In the reflective silence, one hand shot up in the back of the room, raised timidly. Heero raised his eyebrow and nodded to his daughter, who raised haunted eyes to her father. "Why?" She asked simply.

"Why what?" he replied. "There are many reasons for anything."

"Why do people do the things they do, say what they say, when all could work so well if we'd all just get along?" It was a question he'd been trying to answer her for many years.

"That is a difficult and complex question, Akiko," he answered. "Perhaps, in time, you will begin to work out your own answer. I can say, from what I have learned from all my friends and family and, yes, even my enemies, is that because every person is unique and completely different from everyone else, people will clash. Disagreements are unavoidable, and make life so much more interesting that we don't really want to give them up. _Control_ is the hard part. We need to control our power and keep the disagreements small, trivial. Do not stifle anger if you feel it, though I would encourage you to not hate because it only eats at the mind and body. Tell someone. They might be able to offer a solution. But whatever you do, don't give up hope. Hope is what the universe thrives on. Try to be kind, but don't struggle with that so hard that it costs you your own life and happiness. If we all can find our own, personal peace, then petty scuffles will solve themselves or not happen at all. We'll be happier and have more freedom as a people. Don't you want that?"

__

I believe your love

trembling, we seal our wish

with a sweet kiss

(You are here . . . so am I)

please don't ever forget

I believe you dream

in emotion that intensifies,

turning affection into prayer

I want you to know this beat of life

that is so hot, so fierce, so far away

Several people nodded. Akiko had her head in her hands. Coming today, as he'd promised the teacher, had been a bit of a struggle for him. He and his eldest daughter had gotten into a disagreement a few days ago and hadn't even spoken to each other since. He missed her, but his own stubborn pride wouldn't let him say so, even communicate that with her. Sometimes . . . sometimes people very close to each other have the hardest time living with each other, Heero reflected with a trace of bitterness.

"Any other questions?"

One of the boys shouted out, "Where do you live?" getting a few laughs.

Heero smiled. "Not too far from here, actually. I'm afraid giving you my address might be against my better judgement."

It was ten minutes to the hour, and the class didn't even seem to notice.

"And so, with the little time I have left today, I would like to tell you what will be happening at my house tomorrow evening." The boy who'd asked for his address grinned, but his face fell at the next sentence. "My wife and I are hosting a day for our friends and our family, a day of remembrance, tears of sadness and joyful laughs. We will eat under the open sky, share stories, and take a moment to honor those who have given their lives so we can live in peace today. Some of them I haven't seen for many years. The thing about friends is, however, that they remain your friends, even through long absences. I look forward to seeing them all.

"It is nothing more simple as that, yet even with just a few families, our house will feel as full as it has never really been. There will be over thirty people with us, all of whom will have come from a great distance to share this day of celebration of the end of the war which— I hope— will never be repeated. Among us will be Mariemaia Khushrenada, and I mention her with special attention. Marie has, in her short life, been deceived and confused and tormented more than I have, and that's quite a lot to say. She fell against the belief that her father was an evil man, as most people do believe so when I can tell you that he wasn't truly evil, as the definition of evil goes. What enabled us to know how to win future wars like the most recent, should they ever occur, is Mariemaia coming to terms with her father, and realizing the message that he had died trying to deliver to the rest of us. Treize Khushrenada had a passion for our people. He saw beauty in everything, even violence. He realized too soon for his time that wars must be fought with people, or they lose all significance. If people don't believe in wars because they are not involved in any way, it loses meaning, and so does everything else.

"The last message I have brought for you to know today is that you should _never_, under any circumstances, allow yourself to stop feeling. There may be great pain that seems overwhelming, or anger that threatens to take control, but what if you didn't feel anything? Don't shut yourself off to the world."

__

Strife alone can never achieve,

not for anyone, for anything

there is a pure rhythm that I want to pass along

to your young and innocent hand

Heero scanned the young, impressionable faces and noticed that some looked a little more enlightened than when he'd come in. He nodded "Thank you for this time together. I think we've all learned something today."

It was a minute before the bell, but several students were standing anyway. It was hard to notice the people in back until there was a little cry of surprise and Akiko, a girl of seventeen, came tearing down the isle. She threw her arms around her father's neck, nearly knocking him back. "I'm sorry, daddy," she told him. "I was just— it's hard—"

"I know," he said, holding her tightly. "You don't have to tell me that, aijou."

**~~@[~*,~]@~~**

There was a piece of the universe that seemed so impossible, because it was only filled with love and comfort. Almost everyone had arrived early, and Heero felt his head spin at seeing them all together in one place. Akiko was sitting quietly off with her boyfriend Akira (who really was quite sweet, despite the way he dressed), as was common enough for her. Raina and Vincent were still getting along well, if you count a rather sexist game of tag as getting along well. Merian drifted from group to group, listening intently but never saying a word.

There were the other children, too, dodging in between the adults in childish delight, getting into the desserts when they thought their parents weren't looking, and generally summoning a small hurricane. There was young Quatre, Merian's seven year-old twin brothers and another set of twins boys of Heero and Relena's own. They were all stubbornly like their respective fathers, too, both in appearance and personality. There was Milliardo and Noin's six year-old Deanna, Then there was Treize, Mariemaia and Cam's four year-old, who looked every inch of a miniature version of his grandfather. His half-aunt of the same age, Sonya (who looked identical to Marie when she'd been that age), seemed to be the best at snatching the unattended sweets in the kitchen. Last but not least, there was Trowa's toddling daughter, clutching at her mother Anja's leg and watching everybody in wide-eyed wonder.

"Who are we missing?" Relena asked her husband.

Heero scanned the crowd. "Quatre . . . and Dorothy. I think everybody else is here."

"What a crowd!" Sophie hurried past, laden with a tray of appetizers. Heero, Relena, Sophie, Noin, Akiko and Raina had all been in the kitchen for days baking and cooking and freezing and defrosting and decorating in preparation. The food would be on in another hour or so . . . as long as Quatre and Dorothy showed up. They _had _promised to be there. "How many people, do you think?"

Sophie hurried away (amid the sticky hands of the kids) and Relena counted quickly in her head. "Well, there's Treize and Une and the six pilots and your families (minus Quat for now), Tovah, Dennis, Akira . . . that thirty."

Heero whistled. "Didn't know a small circle of acquaintances would get to be so large."

"Well, there are several billion of us," Duo said in passing. "Ever wonder how that happened?"

__

The warmth of the sun shines through clusters of leaves,

__

steadily marking the passage of time

this surely is what everyone wants to hold onto

forever and ever (eternity).

"They're here!" Trowa called from down at the field, waving. Sure enough, a red convertible was speeding its way up the road. Dorothy parked her car in the grass with the others, opened the back door, and a golden retriever leapt off of the leather seat and bounded, tongue lolling, into the other six animals (two black labs— Heero and Wufei's—, a springer spaniel— Treize's—, two basset hounds— Cam's—, and a ginger cat— Phailin's). Everyone had brought their pets. They'd been invited too.

Quatre pulled sleek sunglasses up onto his forehead and grinned. "Looks like we're late!" he shouted over the din of happy greetings.

"Don't let the crowd fool you," Heero replied. "Everyone else was early!"

The day was unarguably perfect. It was sunny but not too warm, and the snowy peak of Mt. Fuji loomed high in the background. A gentile breeze drifted through the valley and blew light pink cherry blossom petals over the tables. "Okay everybody," Duo shouted across the field as the first streaks of gold began to appear on the horizon, "Line up. Ooh, I get firsties!" Duo and several of the kids fought for first position in line at the masterful buffet the women, plus Heero and his daughters, had prepared. Phailin finally got frustrated and cut. Her sons both called her a cheater, but she only shrugged.

"No one who is successful stays successful without a few underhand throws, right Relena? Besides, look, I've got the first slice of chicken!"

"Brilliant!" Treize laughed, following suit.

No one was left without something they wanted, though. It was a veritable feast. "And Zero and Fortuna are taking anything left by tomorrow evening down to the disaster relief center, aren't you?" Relena added.

Nulles, sitting a little way off but still perfectly capable of hearing Relena, smiled silently and nodded, cradling his son in his lap.

So anyway . . . how's the Winner estate?" Noin turned to Quatre as they ate in the soft grass, lounging about under a golden sky.

Quatre hurriedly swallowed a piece of melon. "Quite well, actually, if you hadn't been able to tell." He gestured to the convertible parked in the grass. "I really didn't have any choice but to assume control after the Manganacs did that suicide run, and I've enjoyed the time with my sisters. They were good, competent men in regards to business, but the Winner family name had really fallen down in politics. Thankfully, I had a good friend to help me get the whole thing back on its feet." He put his hand over Dorothy's.

"Back, Jisuberi!" Heero shoved his half-grown lab away from his food. "I fed you already!"

Phailin picked Chai-son (her cat) delicately up off the ground in the center of the human circle and with a graceful and sudden move sent the thing flying off in the direction of the rest of the dogs, which were wise enough not to get close enough to anyone's food to get a swat on the nose like Jisuberi.

"Did you ever find Catherine, Trowa?"

He heard the question, but couldn't figure out to whom he was answering. Everybody seemed to be involved in at least 3 conversations. "Yeah, I did. She's working for some contract company now. We spent a couple of days catching up last Christmas."

"Well, that's good."

__

I believe your love

never give up

stretch out your wounded wings

and soar up into the sky

you sketch a dream of infinity 

that is so far away

I believe your dream

show your smiling face

though you are drowned in sorrow,

someday you'll want to be proud

of this irreplaceable present

that is so far away

"Wufei, I'm interested to know what happened to the other gundams. I haven't heard much about them since you decided to let them choose how to handle this peace." Treize stopped his daughter from upturning his plate as if it was a common occurrence (and possibly an intentional attempt).

"I haven't been asked about that one in a while," Wufei replied offhandedly. "Well, Phailin and I wired them all in to the old computer at the abandoned base in Samut Sakhon a little while after the senate decided that us pilots didn't need restrictions about them and they had a conference for four straight days. Nataku decided that they wanted to see if Ihminen, his crew and his ship could modify them and make them into real gundams like Fortuna and Zero and Epyon and Inimicus. Last I heard, it was going well. They might not be finished in our lifetimes at this rate, though."

"It took centuries to finish work on the first four. They should have more ships able to work on them than just the Laiva, though, right?"

"The _Laiva's _sister ship the _Fune_ _was _equipped to produce gundams— she's the one that "birthed" Zero and Epyon— but they dismantled that. After the original four, they thought they'd just let the gundams breed on their own. Ihminen told me that they don't really like to mess with living material too much. A lot of their peoples believe that they're trying to play God. They kept the equipment aboard the _Laiva_ mostly for nostalgia, though it was lucky they still had it when our mobile suit's request went through."

"Hm." That was interesting, Treize thought, absentmindedly gnawing on a chicken bone.

"So where are you going to college, Akiko?" Sophie tried to ignore her husband's conference with Heero's solemn-faced sons (which involved at one point a plastic fork and knife, the end of Duo's braid, and a total lack of a childish sense of humor on the kids' part).

Akiko reclined against her leather-clad boyfriend. "Well, I was going to go for something in the country, but dad convinced me to send away to international schools and both Akira and I got accepted to Harvard Medical back in America."

"Harvard! That's one of the world's best! Congratulations!"

"Thanks."

"It's a long way from home, though. Are any of your parents concerned?"

Akira shrugged a "not really" but Akiko laughed. "Dad's practically laying eggs about it! You'd have never known he'd suggested I apply in the first place. Mostly, I think he's upset that Akira's going to be so close, though don't tell him I said that."

Sophie looked surprised. "He doesn't trust you?"

"He's my father."

That, of course, was all the explanation that was needed in a case such as this.

__

Overcoming our mistakes, we realize

what true kindness is

together, you and I discovered

the strength of love

"Quatre?"

"Yes?"

"Why do you still have your hand on mine? It's making it kind of hard to eat." Dorothy gave him a funny look. "I thought—"

He grinned sheepishly. "Yeah, well, everyone's got to enjoy their moments."

"I can't believe how incredibly confusing that is, coming out of you." Being with Quatre for long periods of time had its benefits, but his high points tended to be when everyone was in a position to see. "And I thought—"

"Sorry about that," he interrupted her again. "Lost track of what I was doing." Then he was back to the embarrassed bit. Dorothy shook her head, trying to hide a smile.

"Well, anyway, it was a trick getting our rep to sign that movement to reinstate the Preventers, but we did it," Dorothy continued to Tovah, who seemed rather lonely among people he mostly didn't know. It was probably hard, having summoned all those memories of his friend Vincent and his recently-released violent death. "I'm glad you decided to help me on that. I think it's very important that we organize it immediately."

"Yeah, no problem." Tovah bit into a slice of fresh bread. "I've got a lot of connections, and I totally agree with you. I'm glad Lady Une decided to drop out, though. A woman regarded as half a warmonger was far from perfect for the head of the department— no offense to her— and I think she suits her current position much better."

"No offense taken," Lady Une assured him, happening to overhear the last bit. "And actually, I do like my new job better. It gives me more time with the little one and it's a job I don't actively have to choke myself to tolerate. Regulating the production of our new space cruisers has been great fun, and I doubt I'll find myself out of a job soon with all the new business our intergalactic friends have brought us."

"Which reminds me," Milliardo was saying across from them. "I wanted to thank you for that insight into how we're handling religious uprisings around the globe, Mariemaia. It made a lot more of the representatives comfortable with the tactics of noninvolvement that the Preventers have been using. I wasn't there, being out at the field, but I'd sure like to know what you said to get them more settled on the subject."

"'A new scientific truth does not triumph by convincing its opponents and making them see the light, but rather because its opponents eventually die, and a new generation grows up that is familiar with it.'" Marie quoted. "Found it in an old book, but I managed to elongate it into a speech."

"I'm just sorry we don't see more of you at the counsel meetings."

"Yeah, well, I've got other things that need doing. While my influence touches a few people at the summit meetings, it works a lot better when I'm actually out in the world helping the common citizens. There's still a lot of skeletons in the closet about the last fifty years of war, and every new bit of information that we uncover is priceless. I delivered a pair of half- melted dog tags to a mother that had no idea what had happened to her son. She was saddened, but at least she knows that he's not cold and alone somewhere. It's very gratifying."

__

I believe your love

trembling, we seal our wish

with a sweet kiss

(You are here . . . so am I)

please don't ever forget

I believe you dream

in emotion that intensifies,

turning affection into prayer

I want you to know this beat of life

that is so hot, so fierce, so far away

Beside her, Cam laughed as little Treize tried to coax Trowa's daughter to surrender the cookie that Raina had given her. "Hey, now, play nice you little rogue! Dessert will be on soon— unless you and Sonya ate them all already."

"Dad, you look really stupid," Vincent warned his father as he continued to try and entertain the Yuy and Chang twins, who were all looking extremely entertained only because the entertainment was making such an ass out of himself while failing to be entertaining. Trowa probably would have had more luck with his Excessively Ridiculous Hokey Clown Act, except that he never performed it anymore, having given up on it ever amusing anyone. (Treize, on the other hand, seemed to have a knack for entertaining kids. He didn't ever seem to do anything special, either. It might have had something to do with how many years he'd had of taking care of kids— Cam had been one of many that were practically raised by the man— which in turn could have been triggered by Marie's birth when he was barely eighteen. Or, it might have just simply been that he had been born to be a parent. Regardless, children seemed to gravitate around him. It was making Duo a little jealous, though Treize himself didn't seem to mind.)

"You Asian boys couldn't catch a good joke if it came at you riding a frisbee," Duo sighed.

Benjiro and Hideaki exchanged mischievous glances and hopped up, no doubt to find a frisbee to throw at Duo when he wasn't looking. No doubt he'd find it a _hilarious_ joke.

"Uh oh, everybody make sure they've got some liquid in their glass," the harassed American announced, tapping the side of his paper cup enthusiastically with a plastic fork. "Heero's about to make another one of those big speeches we all love so much!"

"Thank you for your support, Duo, but I think we'd all noticed," Heero said tolerantly, his own cup raised for silence. "Sorry to interrupt, guys, but before we all start wandering off, I'd like to say a few things."

__

The pain of tears shed

for someone important

penetrates the earth

and drenches the land

I want to end that sorrow

"Well, what are you waiting for?" Milliardo asked.

"Makes me remember the old times," Heero sighed. "Funny, how I feel so old. It just seemed to have crept up on me.I know all of you must feel the same— except in those cases where you have _no reason whatsoever_ to feel old."

"I think, though in essence, most of us have been able to retain our youth. In a way, didn't we understand the world better when we were fifteen, speaking as a pilot? Am I right?" For a moment Heero looked as if that was it and he was going to sit down again, but his sigh told everyone that it wasn't the case after all.

"I'm sorry," he said, shaking his head. "But what I wanted to say was that over the course of the years, haven't we learned so much? People say that knowledge makes the brain heavy— but I tend to believe the opposite. Everything we learn makes us a little more at peace with ourselves, if you use it carefully. I don't think we all learned the same things, either. That is— thanks to Mariemaia for her realization— why we are as human as the rest of the world. We have our own knowledge to spread and enlighten others with. We're all so lucky to be here today."

Treize raised his cup, and somehow it seemed just as fit for a toast as a glass of wine. "Imagine what some people would give to have experienced all we did— whether they realize the fact or not. Think how many people would benefit from what we saw. It makes me want to be a teacher, or a preacher . . . if I didn't have a dead man's body!"

"Hear, hear!" Duo grinned and raised his drink as well. "Just as a pastor or a monk studies the old testaments and repeats himself, we've gotta stay vigilant too. What if we stopped talking about everything we've learned, everything we've found on the paths that our lives have taken us down— and the road we've all cruised together— no one learns.

"Nothing will keep us together like belief," Quatre added. His soft voice seemed to project just as well as any of the others. "No matter what, we'll always hold true to the belief that we've found something real in this universe so full of chaos. Even if we can't be with each other, we'll always have these sacred bonds of love and trust and revelation . . ."

There was a voice scarcely heard all evening, and it spoke up then among the men and women its owner considered his heros. "Among other things, we must all never forget every person we lost, even our enemies. A person lives eternally through the memory of his or her survivors. That's what I believed when I tried to kill myself, and I still believe it now. Vincent . . . lost his family to a cruel heart. He sacrificed himself to keep it from happening to anyone else. If Ingriham hadn't been stopped before Beliv's plans came full circle, this beautiful landscape, this gorgeous view and wonderful evening reunion would never had been possible. I didn't know him, but many of you did. It shocked me to hear the account that was released, and reminded me— however gruesomely— that when determined we can become stronger than our delicate bodies would let on. Many good soldiers and determined volunteers died ten years ago, and we don't even know their names. Isn't that a tragedy?"

"Remembering Hilde," Duo said softly, and the others winced at the pain in his voice, "I don't think we should allow a memorial unless it depicts what really happened. That means blood, and a lot of it. We can't let the details get soft. We can't let people view it as a thing that will never happen just because it already has. Is everyone with me?"

There was a chorus of agreements. 

__

I believe your love

never give up

stretch out your wounded wings

and soar up into the sky

you sketch a dream of infinity 

that is so far away

I believe your dream

show your smiling face

though you are drowned in sorrow,

someday you'll want to be proud

of this irreplaceable present

that is so far away

"To this irreplaceable present and the mistakes of our past that made it possible," Mariemaia toasted.

"To the future and the rightness we hope will let it fly straight and true," Wufei added.

Everyone drank.

The deep red-orange sunset glowed, casting a pink sheen on the snow of Mt. Fuji, and the air cooled pleasantly. No one wanted to say goodbye, no one wanted to say goodnight. No one wanted the perfect moment— the ones only young minds can feel— to end.

A few people mumbled to each other in contented voices as they sat on the dark porch amid the insect-repellent candles and gazed in wonder at the stars.

There was only one who slept, peacefully oblivious to the rest of the world. Fortuna looked out among the familiar constellations and cradled Lucius, envying his innocence just a little bit. "So what do you think, Nulles? Was it worth it?"

"Hmm?"He turned back from his own gazing.

"Or would you have rather never been?"

Zero wrapped his softly shimmering golden wings around her, enveloping Fortuna in comforting warmth. "How can so many take existence for granted?"

__

I believe your love

trembling, we seal our wish

with a sweet kiss

(You are here . . . so am I)

please don't ever forget

I believe you dream

in emotion that intensifies,

turning affection into prayer

I want you to know this beat of life

that is so hot, so fierce, so far away

*****************************************************

_And it ends, with a simple question that we all must answer for ourselves._

Umm . . . yeah. Chapter 15 should be out very soon, so keep posted. It may take me a couple of days to compile everything. Thanx for reading guys . . .

Oh yea . . . I promised I'd tell you about my other projects, didn't I?

Well, you mainly have two options. Please tell me which one you like the sound of better for my next major fic!

**~~@[~*,~]@~~**

**Touch the Stars**: This is a duel-narrated Sci-fi adventure set in modern-day Seattle, Washington (it sounds confusing, but once you read the story it'll make sense). I intended for it to be my first published novel, but so far it hasn't happened.

****

Jade Huntington had a lot of money, and Reine Larios was poor. Jade had no parents, but neither did Reine. She had dreams about mysterious dark-haired people, and he had dreams about riding the wind with dragon hide between his heels. Soon, they would both discover that each of their dreams was more real than fantastic, if only they would accept a hard responsibility that only stacked upon their busy high school lives.

It seemed unlikely from the start that Jade and Reine would ever have met, but the Baccu seem to have a tendency to find each other, no matter how large the distance is between them. The sight of children raised in (unintentional) ignorance because their parents weren't there to care for them was all too common among a people that had too much selflessness for their own good, and unfortunate. It always pained Mira Starholder to watch their faces contort with confusion and disbelief, but it had to be done. They needed the fighters.

It's a story about teenage angst, about friendship and family, about forbidden truths and unacceptable realities. Most of all, it's a story about life-- no matter how fantastic, it's still complicated and full of anger, hatred, and the desire to stop the pain.

"My name is Jade Huntington, and I have a choice. Should I choose to continue in my father's legacy among his people, I cannot turn back."

"My name is Reine Larios, and I have a dream. Should I choose to take my mother's place among the stars, I will never fail myself again."

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**~~@[~*,~]@~~**

**Tears of Magic (Ruby Red); **This is a comic I tried to start but got too busy to plan out all the way. I was going to see how long I could sustain the story line through this fic. Actually, I already have a sample chapter out if you'd like to sample it. The chapters will be shorter, but there will be more delay between them as I try to come up with new ideas:

****

In the year 2952, after a series of devastating wars, the human race is in shambles. As the citizens left alive from the three-hundred-year technological and biological warfare try desperately to make sense of their shambled lives, one boy and one girl, both young adults left to survive on their own, discover the meaning of the long-lost magic of the Land of the Rising Sun.

Chiyo Tsumemasa grew up in the slums of the city, a bright student that was forced into a career of prostitution to make ends meet after running away from an abusive family. Joben Matsumoto is a trainee-scientist working under the cruel and inhumane Dr. Iwakajimo in the midst of a poverty-stricken Tokyo. When the two young minds met, the spark was greater than many, many people could have imagined— or had the capacity to fear.


	15. Why I did what I did in AC 208 ^_^

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Well, you guys know the drill by now, huh? I'll go chapter by chapter and explain anything I think you guys might have been confused about and basically outline the story again (in case you forgot something). A TON of work goes into this chapter because I have to spend so much time re-reading each chapter and thinking about every word I wrote. Hope you appreciate it!

****

(Part I): Prologue; "Fragility"

The story opens with a narrative from Akiko's point of view-- what she's seen on the ship where Beliv has been holding her captive since Christmas Eve. She doesn't know what else in the world there ever was, but she's determined to find something else. Doesn't that speak a little bit about her father right there?

Milliardo and Relena's father's grave has a little bit of symbolism throughout the story. Do you pray when you need help? Whenever they visit the grave, it shows that something is bothering them a lot. Milliardo was worried about the Sanc Kingdom from the beginning.

I just realized that section with Phailin went a little fast, so I'll try and explain a little better. Phailin's father was the King of Thailand's brother, and her mother was daughter of the village head. With both of them dead, the leadership would have passed to her. That's also the reason why she was educated in Bangkok. I realized I hadn't really mentioned that anywhere earlier in the story. Guess I'll have to note that and go in to the story and fix it.

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(Part II): "Dawn"

Here's where the conspiracy starts, on Phailin's part. I was going to actually let you listen to the entire conversation between her and her uncle the monk [I almost typed "monkle" *_*], but I decided that I might as well save the issue of Phailin's pregnancy for the end of the fic. We had Noin to deal with anyway, and I like to keep a little mystery shoved in there. You figured out why she'd been acting less and less capable throughout the story, right?

Next comes the conversation between Marie and Fortuna. I hint rather strongly that Fortuna had a disliking for Shenlong, and that she'd thought him weak. I was beginning to work out the conspiracy about the four original Gundams around this time, so this was my clue that Shenlong was a resulting prototype, not before Fortuna's time.

There are a lot of things I probably should have added more of in the previous books, like where Cammie Exeter appears on her little history project. She played a pivotal role in bringing Operation Comet to light, and if you didn't remember her from the first Gundam conference in AC 206, you're left a little out of luck. I'm going back to edit, so you may want to check back in a few months in the previous books to see what's changed. It's going to undergo a major overhaul.

****

(Part III): "The Player's Strategy"

God, I must have been watching the Matrix before I wrote this chapter. Seriously, I used a lot of quotes from it. Well, I got some requests to have a little session with Quatre and Trowa, but there's a reason why I don't want them together the whole fic. I'm not really into the yaoi thing, and I kinda got this idea about Dorothy, which I'll explain in detail later. Also, I've always sensed that Quat and Trowa have this great friendship, and affairs such as theirs can absolutely _ruin_ a friendship like that. I didn't want that to happen, either.

The whole conversation in capitals was a little confusing, I bet. This one was between Zero and Fortuna. You can always tell because Fortuna ("Mother_Source") is the only one that calls him "dear" and "love" etc. There was Zero, acting completely indifferent as usual. He wanted to hide the information from Heero because he didn't realize it was important, and thought it might just cause unnecessary confusion. It's a good thing she was commander of the whole expedition, wasn't she?

Cammie Exeter was the last leg of a very long line of hands. The last piece of the puzzle has finally been revealed, but it's got a lot of edges. Lucky for us, Heero is good at puzzles. I know I've got to go back and add some more stuff about the war from this disc. It started with Treize, which is how Heero found out all that history on him. Oh well . . .

****

(Part IV) "The Trail of Blood"

Treize is talked about a lot in this chapter. I was determined from the start to keep him on as a character-- I just couldn't find a way to replace his personality (As you may have guessed, he's one of my favorite characters.) I pretty much went down the list of people who'd know anything about the conspiracy until we hit Phailin again. Those herbs and Phailin's nausea was another little hint. Let's count the quotes--there's one in there from Carl Sagan's "Contact"-- "How did they survive this technological adolescence without killing themselves." Thatz about it for this chapter.

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(Part V) "Don't Breathe"

The story takes a big turn here. Just when the situation turns worse is when the truth can finally be revealed. All the stuff in the chapter was self-explanatory, I think. I wanted Marie and Treize to have a deeper connection in this story so I could bring everything together nicely in the end of the book. I couldn't figure out how the Yuys and Maxwells were going to rescue the kids anyway so I just let them tag along behind where Marie had gone.

****

(Part VI) "Hope Doesn't Die Easy"

Sophie and Duo have kinda been more minor characters than I originally planned. Besides, I wanted to show that not everybody is so happy with the situation, even though there's hope. I didn't want to turn the Maxwells into Heero and Relena. That would be kinda boring, no?

In case anyone didn't really understand the whole gundam thing, here's how it breaks down: Inimicus is Fortuna's sister gundam, born of the same ship (The _Laiva_). Epyon was Penna Nulles' (Yeah I know I spelled it wrong through most of the latter half of the book. I'm fixing it don't worry.) brother much in the same way. I gave the gundams characters because I really think they were more intelligent than the show lets on (which is probably due to bad scripting on the American side) and I don't think Tallgeese just sprang up out of nowhere.

Rule No. 43 of writing: NEVER KILL OFF A MAJOR CHARACTER WITH UNFINISHED BUSINESS. I couldn't have killed Marie. The alien thing was a little abrupt, which reminds me of yet more I must go back and tweak, but every good scifi story has aliens, right? No, seriously. Think about it. I kind of got inspiration for this from the last few Star Trek movies: First Contact and Insurrection. They've been watching our planet, waiting for our species to advance just a little farther, then they'll call and say hello to the human race. Look what we've got here, the entire universe could be yours! The reason why they hadn't contacted previously was that they didn't think we were ready; that we warred too much. But Marie figured that we weren't going to change, and we were already pushing our way into space, so why not? That was a little bit like the "My Teacher _______" series from Bruce Coville. Yeah, I know they're kids books but I still love them! Besides, where else would Fortuna and Zero and the others come from? They don't use fuel like conventional mobile suits . . .

****

(Part VII): "Shinjite"

Count the Quotes: "Sometimes, I do what I want to. The rest of the time, I do what I have to"-- Gladiator, used (not to the exact word) by Marie to Akiko when the girl didn't want to leave the _Laiva_. I think I should be a parodist . . .

Anyway, There's not a whole lot to explain here, I don't think. I'm going to go over (once more) why the Phantom Runners wanted Wufei as this, and here it is: Wufei is a gundam pilot. People look up to him and respect him. No one is willing to acknowledge that Wufei might not have been the pest person for a leader, but he happened to be the only one free enough from other things to do Trowa's little job. Besides, the news about the Chang and the Phantom Runners would get out, and the feeling of having someone more experienced would help the general population feel more comfortable with letting the Phantom Runners to continue fighting Beliv.

Before I forget, it sure seemed like it took a long time for Marie to accept what her father felt about her, huh? That was intentional. Repetition is sometimes required to get the point across. I wanted the audience to get a feel for how Treize really acted (in my opinion), though, so they wouldn't be outright repulsed by the ending. I'm going to go off-track for just a minute to say that I believe Treize was a true romantic. I agree with a lot of his ideals, once you get past the way they first appear. He's one of those people that it's impossible to really hate.

****

(Part VIII): "Losing Faith"

The little iced-tea revelation of Une's was pretty well orchestrated, now that I read back over it. It took me quite a while to get everything right. You should feel so lucky to have met an author absolutely obsessed with her computer and word processor.

Phailin's back . . . yet another sign that something's up while still being fairly cryptic . . .

This was one of those chapters that took a while to work on, because I put a lot of thought into it. That conversation between Nulles and Fortuna, for instance, was really hard to orchestrate. I'm not a quick person with words, and my analytical personality won't let me get away with simplistic conversation. See what I mean? (That's why I can't stand "dubya" but I'll leave that for another time . . .) I tried to give the impression of what the gundams symbolize in my mind--poetic soldiers of justice, each word in that description as a separate ideal and one at the same time. Fortuna and Zero were _meant_ for each other. I mean, their creators actually had planned that they would fall in love. That's why Zero's behavior was so confusing to everyone, even his own pilot. Well, I guess it all comes to light later, huh?

****

(Part IX): "The Death of Optimism"

Let me clarify that the conversation at the beginning was between Fortuna and Inimicus, not Fortuna and Shenlong.

Ok, Vincent's a very special case. As we all find out later (but the details aren't real in-depth), Captain Ingraham of the _Gayla_ (Beliv's ship, in case you forgot) was deeply involved with the Operation meteor stuff. Those of you who have played FF7 and have found Vincent will kind of recognize his character (at least the way he looks). He was one of those boys that got messed up after they used Heero as a lab-rat. They wanted some adults to experiment on to see if it would do the same thing, only it didn't seem to work with them. Those memories, as they came back, had the same effect on his as if he was experiencing it for the first time. That's why the reaction was so bad. I didn't have time to fit Heero's own decision to take the chemical stuff, but he was in bed for a couple of hours. Akiko didn't really have trouble with it, as Heero suspected.

Now comes the issue of Dorothy. If you think way, way, way back (yeah I know, BC stuff here) I mentioned that I was going to mutate the characters a little in my own opinion about how the characters would feel after ten years of peace. I think that Dorothy really came back to Beliv out of nostalgia. She'd forgotten exactly what war was like, after so long, and in my opinion I don't think she would have been too comfortable with Beliv. I don't think Dorothy was ruthless in the way Beliv was, rather that she was more like Treize, seeing a kind of beauty in violence. I think she sensed that she herself was in danger in Beliv, and someone as Narcissistic as her would not have stuck around long. Why not help Quatre?

****

(Part X): "Sunset"

Inimicus's name means "Enemy" in Latin. (Literally. I do my research.) She's _everyone's_ enemy. She especially hates Zero and Fortuna, if only because they're so similar to her. This girl had serious ego problems, but see how she ended up, right? That's basically my revenge for all the egotistical snooty bitchy #$*@ *#$@&$ *#$)*$&%@#$*($&$& etc people I have to deal with. Yeah, I'm messed up, so what?

Ok, the Sanc Kingdom's fallen three times: once at the hands of a coup, once by invasion, and once at the hands of its own people. It was kind of Milliardo's fault by letting all those questionable people run around inside his country, and look what it got him. Some people have no appreciation for their benefactors, let me tell you.

Count the Quotes: Occum's Razor from Contact . . .

I don't know exactly how I came up with that energy for thought stuff. I think I might have actually formulated it while reading a SOBE label, but I can't be sure. So basically, accept it and get on with life. Don't bug me about it or I'll summon Inu-Yasha and make him slice you in half with the Tetsusaiga. Seriously. Mara has his calling card.

Last but not least, Vincent. Jaque Ingriham murdered his wife and son. There's a lot of statements in this story about family, and lost families, regained families, etc. My point is (and I never really got around to mentioning it in the last chapter. I should probably go back and edit it) that family is important, no matter who you consider your family. We all need someone to depend on, and Vincent's loss was so great that he felt the need to go kill someone.

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(Part XI): "Falling Stars"

I can't really find much to explain out of this chapter, except maybe the Manganacs' suicide run. I just thought, what else could have caused that much damage to a ship as large as the _Gayla?_ I was thinking about Operation Meteor, and the connection kinda went from there. In a long, long time of fighting, the Manganacs _never_ lost a soldier. I wondered what would happen if one of them died. When Rashid came to rescue Quatre and Dorothy and Milliardo out of the Sanc Kingdom, I just took the opportunity to project my own future in that regard.

It really took a lot of coordinating to get this battle the way I wanted.

Also, Heero had a reason for holding Zero back from going in for Fortuna. He didn't want to risk his own butt. It sounds a little selfish, but imagine how Heero must have felt! I wouldn't have wanted to dive back in there if I had a family waiting back home.

Three more to go . . . Think I'll do it tomorrow, go take some pain medication and go to bed . . . ahhhhhhhh

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(Part XII): "Unplanned Fortunes"

God I can find absolutely nothing to explain in this chapter. I apologize if I fried your brain over all that "earthian philosophy. I have way too much time to think, I think. Well, time to stop hinting and actually reveal why Phailin wasn't doing her own fighting . . .

Count the Quotes: "You're sure?" "Yes." "You're positive?" "No, only fools are positive." --numerous Terry Pratchett novels.

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(Part XIII): "One Breath"

Can't find much here either. Umm . . . Ideas anyone?

Well, there's Treize, if that wasn't obvious. Some of you guys may think it was kind of stupid to shove him back in, but I have a very profound reason: He was an important part of everything that happened in the war of AC 195, Marie's coup in AC 196, and the war in AC 207-208. I don't think Treize should have ever died in the first place, and I don't think that's how destiny had it planned. Since the universe's reverted back to its rightful form, some fluke allowed a death to be undone. This is allowable due to the theory I propose in the last few chapters: All things being fundamentally energy-- body _and_ spirit-- nothing truly dies. Matter becomes energy, and therefore energy must be able to convert _back_ to matter. Maybe I study theory too much, but it makes sense to _me_.

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(Part XIV): "Epilogue: AC 218; Resiliance"

This is just a filler chapter, basically. I needed 15 chapters, so here that thing went. There were a lot of kids running around, so I'll list family stuff for your convenience.

First off, there's Heero, Relena, Akiko, Raina, and their twin brothers Bejiro and Hideaki. That's the Yuy family

The Maxwells are Duo, Sophie and Vincent (as always).

The Bartons are Trowa, his lady Anja and their daughter.

There's Quatre and Dorothy. I left the audience on their own to figure out what they were up to. I'm not telling.

There's the Changs, Wufei, Phailin, Merian and her twin brothers

There's the Peacecrafts, Milliardo, Noin, little Quatre and Deanna. (An older brother and a younger sister. Hmmm . . .)

There's the Khushrenadas, Treize, Une and Sonya.

There's the Nolons, Mariemaia, Cam and Treize the younger.

There's the loners, Dennis and Tovah, and last but not least Akiko's boyfriend Akira.

Yeesh.

************************************************

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Owowowowowowow my braces really hurt. I just got the wire changed and it's thicker than the last one and it really HURTS! Ah, agony. Can't take Ibuprofen, 'cause it'll make me fall asleep . . .

Well anyway, I hope you enjoyed my fic-- I mean book-- I mean--

Seriously, I want to thank you guys for sticking with me. This project would have never gone through without the support of my friends and fans. I'm going to be so lonely now without this thing to work on, so please tell me what you'd like me to work on next (you can find the descriptions at the end of ch. 14 in case you skipped over them the first time).

Sayonara, kentou!

-Itsumo


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